Avengers May Cry
by Shocknawe 425
Summary: Taken from his home when a job went sideways, Nero makes the difficult transition from being a hunter to becoming a hero. Where demons, you only have to put down with the few exceptions, humans are another story. Will the hunter with a bad attitude make the necessary change, or will he face a similar road of few friends, dept, and pain like his uncle? (repost)
1. Chapter 1 The Devil Cometh

**_Alright, here is the reposting of the story. I wanna say I apologize Rex for what I did. I only wanted to take some inspiration from your story, and it seems I lost track with how much I was taking and that is not alright. However, unlike Avengers: Prime, I fully intend to take this story in a different direction. I'm only making minor changes to the opening in order to get things under way._**

 ** _Also, as this is the first chapter, I will leave the original text that was supposed to be here at the end of the chapter to act as a reminder on the small changes in the story and to Nero's character._**

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing. Capcom owns Devil May Cry and its characters, and Marvel owns its characters and content.**_

* * *

 _ **Avengers May Cry**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Avengers May Cry: The Devil Cometh**_

 ** _Devil May Cry, Main Branch_**

When a person becomes a Demon Hunter, they really shouldn't expect it to be calm or really peaceful. Instead, they should expect the following things: danger, adventure, excitement, and loss. Some might find it to intoxicating, others enjoy, but for twenty-year-old, Nero Sparda, he wasn't experiencing any of that. In fact, the last time he had a good fight was about four months ago when a bunch of rogue Assaults went on a rampage in Orlando Florida. As of right now, the most dangerous thing to him was the strawberry sundae his Uncle, Dante Sparda got him hooked on, that would give him a headache known commonly as a brain freeze.

Current events in his new home state were going by relatively well and pretty much across the entire planet, save for Fortuna which still had some issues but had quiet down in the last few months. His uncle, Dante was currently doing a job in California, with the use of several Devil Arms, physical manifestations of Demon souls the veteran Demon Hunter had defeated. Those along with his sword, Rebellion, that he had been gifted by his father, Sparda, Dante was nearly unstoppable.

Powerful weapons, the skill to match, and the fact that he was half demon and the son of the greatest swordsman to ever emerge from the Demon World allowed Dante to handle threats that would require multiple human Demon hunters and sometimes his partner Trish and off time friend Lady. Speaking of the two women, Trish was just finishing up her own job in Ottawa Canada, something about some Frosts attacking Parliament Hill officials. As for Lady, neither Trish, Dante, or Nero have heard much from her since the Fortuna incident.

At first, Nero wasn't exactly enjoying the huge dry spell of jobs, Dante and Trish taking the jobs since he was otherwise engaged with his own affairs. But the grandson of Sparda was mature enough and smart enough to know this was going to change sooner or later, but that didn't mean the peace wasn't appreciated. However, the young demon hunter just really wished for something to do, anything, the fights he got with demons were something he actually enjoyed. While he loved a good fight, he took up his sword, Red Queen for a reason, to protect what is most important and to protect humanity from fates that could be worse than death.

After the Fortuna battle, the Order of the Sword being disbanded, Sanctus, Credo, the Hell Gates, and the Savior, Dante had given his brother's sword, Yamato to Nero as a gift, seeing that the kid had earned it when he tried to return it to him. The powerful sword was the very same blade that Sparda had used to seal away the Demon World from the Human World. It was a beautiful steel masterpiece, the handle had white fabric wrap, a gold guard with engravings of a dragon etched into it. Despite the power the sword possessed, Nero, preferred to use his own sword, the Red Queen. It was an ornate weapon, taking inspiration from the German Großes Messer (which translates to "Big Knife"). It had a larger handle, a motorcycle like a handguard that actually had a throttle to allow Nero to use the Exceed System made into the sword.

The Exceed system was a come practice within the Order of the Sword, most Holy Knights having a small engine made into the blade of the sword, using a flammable liquid to fuel it and allow the user to swing harder and actually cause more damage. But if there was one thing that distinguished Nero from the other Holy Knights, when he was still part of the Order, was his trusty custom revolver, a heavily modified Smith and Wesson Model 500 double-action revolver. It had a six-shot cylinder, with a long dual-barrel that allowed two shots to be fired at the same time, with porting on each barrel to reduce the recoil and muzzle flip, as well as targeting sights. There was an ornate wooden handle, as well as a blue rose design engraved on the right side, with a thorn design embedded as well. Due to using his left hand over his right, the Revolver's breach opened up to the right rather than the left. But it wasn't just the weapons that made this demon hunter unique.

In the year that followed Fortuna, Nero had gained a lot more power when he used Devil Bringer. Nero was one-quarter demon and three-quarters human, and that demonic heritage manifested itself into his right arm. In the place of a regular human arm was, instead, an arm that was entirely disfigured, and was demonic to the point of being nearly draconic. His claws, palm, and forehand had glowing blue skin, with a large blue crack in the middle of his forearm. The rest of his arm was covered in red organic flesh, with a spike protruding from his elbow. Blue strap-like flesh covered the top part of his arm. The Devil Bringer had the unique ability to draw portions of a demons power into itself, giving Nero more power, however, this caused it to glow brighter with each essence the arm took. Due to this, whenever Nero went out, he wore a medical cast to avoid drawing attention.

At the moment, the young adult was lounging in the Devil May Cry office, just waiting for something, anything to happen. His feet were kicked up onto Dante's desk as he ate his strawberry sundae. Nero was in many ways like his uncle, the platinum hair being the most prominent similarity. However, the main difference between them was the way Nero dressed, compared to Dante, he wore a long blue coat, with red insignias of the Order of The Sword sewn on both shoulders, buttons with rose emblems on them, as well as on the clasp over his chest. Under his coat was a red, sleeveless, sewn-together zip-up hoodie which hid a navy muscle shirt, blue pants, and brown boots. His left arm held a black band over his wrist, and a silver ring with another rose design on its face on his ring finger. His right, Devil Bringer.

"Guess sooner or later, the demons would wise up and leave the human world alone," muttered Nero to himself as he poked the ice cream dessert, "but come on... I would seriously take a Dagon right about now. Or a Scarecrow."

Setting his snack down, he switched on the tv, flicking through news channels for anything demon related. After going through the channels twice, he found that nothing was happening in the world, well, nothing that interested him as the only thing happening was a corrupt president getting impeached in some random country for corruption and obstructing justice.

"Just my luck, nothing but some corrupt politicians," drawled Nero as he switched off the tv, "but from what I've heard, the guy might be a demon in disguise."

"But knowing my luck, and the luck of any poor bastard that has come into contact with Dante, that'll all change," mused the silver-haired young adult cynically as he finished off his sundae. He would never admit it, but he actually liked the frozen dessert.

However, as soon as Nero placed the dish down on the desk, the phone began ringing. Looking over at the offending source of the noise, the quarter demon kicked his boot down on the furniture, causing the phone to fly off its holder and sail through the air. Stretch out his left hand, he caught the phone before bringing it to his ear.

"Devil May Cry," Greeted Nero professionally, expecting the person on the other end to be a client.

 _"Kid, it's Morrison,"_ responded the voice. Nero narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He really didn't appreciate being called a child, but Morrison was an old friend of Dante. Usually coming to the Demon Hunter with job offers. With the potential offer for something to do, the young hunter let it slide.

"This ain't a social call is it?" Asked Nero, getting right down to business.

 _"You'd be right,"_ snorted Morrison in wry amusement, however, his tone went back to seriousness, _"is Dante around? I've got a job."_

"The old man's still on one in Cali'," answered the youngest Sparda, "Trish is still busy and I don't have a clue about Lady. I'm not doing anything important right now."

 _"You sure you're up to it?"_ Asked the man, his tone had the tiniest bits of concern.

"Been bored out of my mind, figured you had something for me; something ugly that needs to get put down," Replied Nero coolly as he adjusted his position in the office chair.

 _"Right,"_ conceded Morrison's as he gave in, _"I got a lead about an old Order warehouse, one that the Order's former mad scientist, Agnus, used to House old demon artifacts and some Angelo armor. Demons have been flocking around the area and my sources say that it won't be long before one of them ends up drawing blood."_

"Guess a stuttering, mad scientist's work is never completely gone, huh?" Joked Nero, knowing that Agnus was a stuttering wreck but a stuttering wreck who was also a genius Alchemist who creates the Ascendant Ceremony, and several artificial demons like the Angelos, Cutlasses, Basilisks, and Gladii. It was also this alchemist that helped create the Savior, and most of the swords Holy Knights used, including Nero's own sword.

 _"Quite right, kid,"_ agreed Morrison.

"What kind of demons have been skulking around and where do I put them down?" Asked Nero briskly, getting a little more annoyed about the whole 'Kid' thing.

 _"Some Scarecrows at best, a Mega Scarecrow at worst, possibly some Assaults,"_ he answered, _"The warehouse is in Jersey, about half an hour from where the shop is. I'll pay you there when the job's done."_

"And how much will I get?" cut in the young adult, "You know the bossman doesn't do _everything_ out of the kindness of his heart?"

What Nero was referring to was the custom coin Dante kept with him. It was a trick coin where both sides were heads. Whenever he took a job, and the person who came to him was truly desperate, who had little to nothing, and practically begged him for help, Dante would flip the coin. If it landed on tails, he wouldn't take the job. If it landed on heads, he'd help.

 _"If you get the job done without breaking anything in the warehouse, you'll get about five grand, an extra grand if you get it done before midnight,"_ challenged the businessman, knowing full well that Nero could get pretty competitive.

"Right," said the demon hunter, "make sure to give Trish and the old man a holler that I'm going on a job."

 _"Good luck, kid,"_ concluded Morrison.

"And stop calling me-" snapped Nero, however, was cut off when the man on the other end of the call suddenly hung up.

Glaring at the phone for a moment, he hung it up before standing up from the chair. Guess he finally had something to do. Heading towards one of the walls of Devil May Cry, Red Queen was mounted on the wall for quick use. Nero always carried Blue Rose with him, hidden inside his jacket pocket.

Taking the nearly four-foot sword, he sheathed it across his back. He was about to exit the shop but stopped and quickly went back to the desk and searched a few draws. After looking two, Nero opened a third and found what he was looking for: a medical cast, glove, and a roll of medical tape. Having your demonic heritage manifest in you right arm makes it hard going out. Dipping his hand back into the draw, he took out a set of car keys and dumped them into his pocket.

Once he was all set, the Devil Hunter put on his glove, covering Devil Bringer before wrapping the medical tape around it. Once it was fully covered, Nero strapped the sling across his left shoulder and put the final touches to make his arm look like it was in a cast.

With all said and done, Nero made his way, but stopped short and glanced back at a picture that had been placed on the desk. Looking at it for a moment, he sighed before pushing the main doors open and exited Devil May Cry.

In the frame was a photo, taken about two years ago. It was a photograph of the entire group in front of Devil May Cry. Dante, with his hands in his pockets with a calm smile on his face, was in the middle, with Trish on his left, and Lady on his right; both of them were smiling. Next to Lady was Patty Lowell, a young girl about 10 to 13 years old. She had blue eyes and long, wavy, blonde hair that reaches to about the midsection of her back, she was wearing a small dress, colored pink. Patty was a friend of Dante's whom he protected for while, being the daughter of a powerful sorcerer and Alchemist. A bright smile on her face, next to her was her mother, Nina Lowell, she looked to be an older, more mature version of Patty, with emerald eyes rather than blue. Morrison was to their right, his eyes closed and a small smile on his old features. The man wore a white dress shirt underneath a purple vest and black slacks. His hair was light brown and combed backward, with his sideburns beginning to gray. A light brown mustache was right above his lips.

On Trish's left was Nero, with his right arm in a cast and sling. His eyes had an expression of indifference, with a small frown added to it. On his left, however, was a young woman with long orange hair, fair skin, and bronze irises. She wore a white dress, with beige accented wrist cuffs, and gold accents sown around her sleeves, and the edges of her dress. Around the gold accents on the sleeves are the symbols same symbols that are on Nero's shoulder, only in gold. Around her neck was a necklace, depicting four angel wings, with two surrounding a red crystal.

Her hands grasped Nero's left hand, while her head leaned on his shoulder; she was smiling.

* * *

 _ **Jersey City, New Jersey**_

Most New Yorkers have a very strong dislike of New Jersey, viewing as more of a suburb than an actual state as most of its accomplishments are a result of events that normally happen in New York. So not being from New York originally, Nero was exempt from that stereotype. But he would admit, he preferred the city that never sleeps over Jersey City. However, the demon hunter wasn't there to compare the two cities, he had a job to do.

Heading towards the historic Warehouse District of lower Jersey City, Nero was driving a classic American Car. While Dante may have a 1952 Austin Healey with a Crimson paint job, the younger hunter's car was something that most car owners, depending on their preference, would give to have. A 1971 Plymouth Roadrunner GTX, but came with a few modifications that are not limited to a 7.2-liter supercharged V8 engine, 6-speed Transmission, Rear-Wheel Drive. Basically, a monster on wheels. It also sported a dark metallic blue paint job with two silver fender strips.

In all honesty, Nero was personally surprised he even got this vehicle. During a job, he found the car, or at least an abandoned one in a garage when he, Dante, and Trish went to San Diego for a job. Seeing the car, Nero decided to take it back and fix it up. When he used to work independently, he did run a legitimate service shop and put the old car back together. And he wasn't disappointed with the results either.

For a while, Nero created a branch of Devil May Cry in Fortuna but decided to join Dante and Trish at the main office in New York. He also had a van, but it was currently undergoing maintenance so this was the only vehicle he could use at the moment.

The trip up to Jersey City was uneventful, a little traffic but wasn't exactly a hindrance to the young man as he made it to the old district a little before eleven at night. However, every once and a while, Nero felt Devil Bringer pulse ever so slightly, almost warning him that demons are close by. Guess Morisson wasn't kidding when he said that demons had begun to flock here.

However, it wouldn't really matter too soon as his destination came right up in front of him.

"Guess this is the place," commented the silver-haired hunter as he stopped the car just in front of an old warehouse.

The Warehouse was built in the same fashion as many others in the old district of Jersey City. All of them were once used at some point, especially during Progressive Era when the railroad distribution center once dominated the city's Hudson River Shoreline. However, that was many years ago an now, most warehouses were left alone to act as a historic sight. Keyword, 'most'.

Opening the door, the hunter stepped out of the vehicle and made his way to the trunk where Red Queen was stored. Opening the lid, he took the large sword out and slung it across his back into a special harness just for the blade. Blue Rose was holstered by his left side, however, he kept his guard up. Demons were close by as he felt Devil Bringer pulse, a faint glow piercing through the bindings of the medical cast, glove, and his sling.

"Better get started and get that bonus," snorted Nero as he headed right towards the warehouse.

That was when the all too familiar of demonic cackling filled his ears, not just six feet behind him.

Acting on instinct, Nero lept forward, narrowly dodging a giant blade that was swung at him. Thanks to his trajectory, Nero smashed through the window into the Warehouse. Shards of glass were of little issue to the demon hunter.

Rolling to his feet, Nero was back up in time to see a Scarecrow squeezing its way through the window in pursuit of him. Scarecrows were basically burlap sacks filled with Trypoxylus, unintelligent beetles that originates from the Demon World. Working together, they can animate the scarecrow-like form they use.

The burlap sack formed a Scarecrow's body, which was haphazardly stitched together with multiple other rags. It stood on two wooden pikes, similar to a pirate's peg leg. One arm was made of wood while the other was a massive executioner's blade. Its face had two hollow eyes and a mouth that was stitched shut.

"Was wondering when one of you dirtbags would show up," mocked Nero as he knew that he was more than likely overqualified to handle a single Scarecrow.

The demon said nothing as it made its way towards him, wobbling with each step, dragging the massive sword with it.

"Gotta admit though," continued Nero as he reached up with his left hand to take the handle of Red Queen, "You surprised me; you guys are never this quiet."

The Scarecrow lunged at Nero, but the hunter saw it coming a mile away. In a flash, Red Queen was out, the blade sliced right down into the chest of the demon, but the punishment had just begun. Raising his sword up, Nero brought it back down in a left diagonal slash then swung horizontally at the Scarecrow's neck then brought it down vertically, ripping the chest completely open.

The demon's body began to swell like air was being pumped into it. It continued to swell, blackish liquid sprayed out through the seams before the demon's body burst like a balloon. A spray of crimson turned into crystals the second it came into contact with the air.

One down, many more to go.

"That's kinda a letdown," scoffed Nero as he sheathed Red Queen back on his back. Turning into the warehouse, he went further in, the darkness surrounding him, but it didn't really bother him as he had much better vision than humans.

The further he went in, the more Devil Bringer pulsed. He was getting closer to more demons. After about a minute of walking, Nero came to a larger area. Looking around, he spotted a light switched situated on the wall. Stepping towards it, he flipped the switch.

Nothing happened in the first few seconds, then, like an old generator that hadn't been started in years rumbled to life. Overhead lights flickered for a second before snapping on, illuminating the room. Blinking his eyes, Nero allowed them to adjust as he scanned the room.

It was the main storage area. Numerous crates were stacked upon each other, as well as some barrels. A smell of dust and mold filled Nero's nose as he scoffed, Agnus had way too much time on his hands. Though, it went without saying that he didn't have anything to do anymore.

His moment of levity was cut off when he heard the demonic cackling again and what sounds like animal roars. His head snapped up to see a few Scarecrows jumping down from the rafters, some were slightly different as in they had doctor's mask sewn to its face, and the blade that was normally a part of their arm was now replacing its right leg.

As for the roars, pale green blurs leaped up from behind some crates and containers. Nero tensed as he saw the blurs come to rest on top of the boxes. The demons had large, lizard-like creatures with oversized claws on their left hands. They wear a round shield on their right forearm, coated with demonic power to deflect most attacks, and armor on their heads to protect them from firearms. These demons were known as Assaults, similar to their distant cousin, Blades.

It wasn't uncommon for some demons to work alongside others, especially among lesser demons as greater numbers mean greater chances of survival. Also, Demons are social creatures by nature, which explains why some Devils have so many servants and take it as a huge offense when one of their own is killed. Demons care for one another, but laugh at the concept of love.

"Well, well," drawled Nero as he shifted his stance, "You guys aren't playing around, huh?"

The Scarecrows let out some chitters while the Assaults snarled and leaped between crates to better surround the demon hunter as they closed in.

"If you're trying to impress me, you're failing," taunted Nero as a smile crept across his face, "Besides, you buddy outside learned the hard way, I'm not messing around."

The Scarecrows inched forward, practically surrounding him while the Assaults snarled and gnashed their fangs. The smile never left his face as he looked at every demon surrounding him.

"Okay then; who wants to start us off?"

A powerful roar echoed above him, forcing Nero to look right up to see an Assault heading towards him. Having leaped down from a support beam to get the drop on him. Too bad he already figured out where it was.

"Guess I'll start us off," the young devil hunter said before taking a deep breath as he crouched low before leaping into the air.

Spinning around in the air, Nero performed a bicycle kick and sent the Assault flying into a few Scarecrows when his boot slammed into the jaw of the demon. The demon collided with the Scarecrows, knocking down about six.

This action sent the demons into a frenzy. The Assaults screeched before they leaped at him. The hunter smirked as one leaped at him; quickly reacting, he spun around in the air and slammed his boot in the side of the head of the demon and used it as a foothold so he could launch himself back to the ground. Rolling across the floor, across his shoulder, the platinum blond flipped around and landed on his feet while the demon collided with a wall and fell down.

The young hunter spun around, his coat flapping dramatically as he drew Blue Rose and fired at one Assault tried to pick up where its comrade fell short. The two Thorns struck the demon right between the eyes, the shot tore right through its head and the demon's head burst while it let out an agonized screech as it dissolved into muck. The hunter ducked under another Assault and fired into its cheek.

Leaping into the air, he fired two more shots, nailing one in the hip and another in the neck. The Assaults roared in pain as the hunter landed back down on the ground.

"You guys are putting me to sleep," taunted Nero as he holstered Blue Rose and turned to face the Scarecrows, that was recovering from the impact with the Assault. A Leg Scarecrow spun towards the devil hunter with its leg outstretched, but Nero ducked under it and tripped its leg from underneath. He then did a spinning kick that sent it flying into another crowd of demons. A few crashed into the wooden crates, but the material held thankfully. He could really use that bonus.

An Arm Scarecrow lunged for him, but he quickly backed away from the demon. It lunged for him again, but this time he caught the blunt side of the blade with his hand. Using the momentum of the downward swing, Nero lifted the demon into the air and slammed it onto the ground. Before it could react, he planted his foot onto the Scarecrow's head, instantly killing it, and yanked the blade out.

Looking at the curved blade, he lunged his arm backward, before throwing the guillotine at the crowd. The blade spun around the demons, instantly slicing them. Due to the blade's curve, however, the weapon flew around Nero like a boomerang. Scarecrows screeched in pain as the guillotine tore through the burlap sacks, which caused red ooze to shoot out.

The blade then flew back to Nero, who ducked, and looked over his shoulder to see the blade impale itself into a Leg Scarecrow.

Standing up from his crouch, Nero noticed that there were now fewer Scarecrows than when he started. He figured that it was time to use his blade to cut them down to size.

He reached over his left shoulder, and grabbed the handle of Red Queen and brought its tip down to the concrete. With the blade held down, he twisted the handle of his blade, which activated the Exceed System in the sword that shot out flammable propellant from the exhaust.

"Well?" demanded Nero as he narrowed his eyes, "Your move."

Three Scarecrows quickly lunged towards him. The former knight then ran forward, while holding his burning sword with his left hand over his right shoulder.

Before any of the demons could strike him, he swiftly cut through them as he charged past. The force of his slash caused him to continue spinning, which allowed him to cut more demons in half. The propellant of his sword covered the blade in flames, which allowed it to cut through the Scarecrows in an arc of searing flames. The demons' remains fell to the ground, scorched by the might of his strike.

Nero spun around in the air to avoid the surprise attack from an Assault. He spun around so that he landed on the back of the Assault and impaled Red Queen through its back.

"Let's go!" he quipped while revving the Exceed, flames erupted out of the exhaust as he cranked it all the way. The power of the system was enough to allow the hunter to barrel right into three Scarecrows and two Assaults, colliding with them and sent the reptilian demons and stitched sacks tumbling away. Spinning around, Red Queen still lodged in the Assault, Nero threw the demon into a wall where it exploded into gunk.

"That it?" he snorted as he sheathed the mighty blade across his back, "Guys are a letdown."

But the hunter froze as he felt Devil Bringer pulse frantically. Footsteps began to echo through the warehouse and were growing louder as whatever it was, drew closer. The footsteps weren't heavy, but short and light, similar to a human's stride, but something felt off.

A shadow stretched across the floor before stopping just in front of Nero. He looked down to see the shadow before turning to his left. Standing in the doorway to the area was a figure, wearing a cloak. From what he could tell, the figure was about six feet four inches. The cloak whoever it was, appeared to be somewhat Victorian.

"You, uh," began Nero cautiously as his left hand drifted to Blue Rose, "You need something?"

The figure didn't answer as it stepped through the doorway into the warehouse.

"You see something you like?" continued the hunter as he shifted where he stood.

The figure stopped in his or her tracks glanced down, his/her head looking down slightly was any hint. Nero followed the stranger's to see what was the source of attention. Sure enough, whoever it was, was focusing on Devil Bringer.

As if on que, Devil Bringer pulsed strongly as Nero returned his attention to the stranger.

"You're a demon," he stated, his eyes narrowing into deadly slits.

Nero tried drawing Blue Rose, but the stranger suddenly appeared right in front of him. Whoever it was, grabbed the hunter's right arm, despite it still being in a sling. The blonde let out a surprised shout as he was yanked right off his feet and slung around like a ragdoll. The next thing he knew, was the sensation of being smashed through a wall before tumbling across the road.

Nero let out a groan as he rolled onto his back, he should've seen this coming. Before he could sit up, he felt a boot slam down onto his right arm. Snapping his head up, the stranger stood over him, his left shoe pinned on top of Devil Bringer.

"You are powerful, young one," said the stranger finally, revealing whoever it was to be male. The way he spoke was similar to a regal Victorian man.

"Yeah," growled the teen as he tried channeling energy into Devil Bringer, but as soon as he tried, pain like white-hot hot fire shot through it.

Nero seethed in pain as his arm started glowing gold and energy began to flow up. The gold flow soon began to take form, one that caused his eyes to widen. Emerging from his arm was Yamato; sword and sheath, floating up into the stranger's left hand. The teen winced in pain as the sword was now completely in the stranger's position.

"You wield Yamato without precision, but it does not matter," said the man unsheathing the sword and stepped back from Nero, the Hunter immediately getting to his feet, ready to draw Red Queen, but whoever it was, wasn't finished, "You're fate does not lie here."

With that, the stranger gripped the katana and entered a refined and nearly perfect stance, he twirled the sword around before swinging it at Nero. The Teen crossed his arms, expecting to be attacked, but he felt nothing. Lowering his arms carefully, he looked at the man who was slowly sheathing Yamato but snapping it shut. A loud roar erupted behind him, Nero looking back to see a blue portal opening, pulling him in. The wind picked up as the portal grew stronger as the blue light from the portal started getting even brighter.

Nero turned back to the stranger as he tried steadying himself, trying to avoid being pulled in while the Stranger's cloak flapped in the howling wind.

"This world is protected by the blood of Sparda," stated the stranger, his words echoing through the wind, "Now another needs that same protection."

Reaching into his cloak, he withdrew a book and tossed that and the sword at Nero. The hunter's eyes widened as he couldn't avoid either without being pulled in. As a result, both objects collided with him and knocked him back just enough to lose his footing and be pulled into the portal. His car, had already been pulled in and once he and Yamato were through, the portal snapped shut and everything grew silent.

* * *

 _ **Unknown**_

Nero groaned as he felt pain lacing across his entire body. His eyebrow's furrowing as he felt the hard ground on his back. Slowly, but surely, the hunter's eyes opened, mentally cursing the pain in his ass. He just had to tempt fate with a wish.

"Damn it...," seethed Nero as he sat up, his left hand going to his head, "Should've figured that a Demon would be close by."

Rubbing his eyes, Nero's eyes finally unblurred, letting him see his surroundings. Upon seeing them, the hunter nearly did a doubletake about where he was. Where he should've been was the street of New Jersey, instead, he was in an alleyway. It looked to be midday, but that didn't matter to him.

"What...the...hell...?"

Nero looked around, trying to make out what happened. Or better yet, where he was.

"Where the hell am I?" growled Nero, his short temper getting close to snapping.

Standing up, using his right hand to support himself as he stood, the demon hunter dusted his coat off, checked to see if Blue Rose had fallen out, which it hadn't, and reassessed his situation. For all the good it did him, he was still as dumbfounded as earlier. Granted he had seen some things as a demon hunter so he really shouldn't be so surprised.

But that's when the memories returned. The job given to him by Morrison, about some old demon artifacts, then he got blindsided by some demon that took Yamato. Wait?! Nero spun around looking for the sword, until he spotted the katana, sheath and all lying against a dumpster. Walking over to it he grabbed the sheath and looked down at it.

That demon...

It used Yamato to open a portal. If he remembered correctly, back when he was still in the Order, Nero could just remember what he was taught about some artifacts. How some demon artifacts could allow transport across the world, and in some cases, other worlds entirely. Yamato specifically.

With the thought of possibly being in the demon world, Nero's eyes widened in realization, "No...no...NO!" roared the hunter as punched the ground with his right hand, making a small crater, "AM I SERIOUSLY IN ANOTHER..."

However, before he could get any angrier, he noticed something not too far from where he was. Lying on the ground was the book that stranger threw at him. Walking over to it, he stooped down to pick it up and flipped to the cover. The Hunter narrowed his eyes when he saw the cover. On the cover was the words 'Encyclopedia Demonica'.

"What the hell?' demanded Nero as he flipped through the pages a bit. The hunter was confused and very annoyed. Shutting the book, he slipped it inside his coat. Looking around the alleyway he was in, the teen didn't think he was that far away from the warehouse.

Glancing back and forward, he settled on heading to the closest way to the main road.

However, when he got out of the alleyway, he found that he wasn't anywhere close to the warehouse. In fact, he didn't think he was even in the same state.

Stepping revealed Nero to the bustling city that never sleeps, otherwise known as New York City.

"How in the fuck?" he demanded, scratching his head as he started looking around. "Well, might explore the city a little."

Exploring the city a bit, he managed to get a hold of a newspaper, finding the name of the paper to be _'The Daily Bugle'_ , Nero saw a picture on the front page showing a man in a red and blue skin-tight outfit with a web pattern all over it. Apparently, he was called Spider-Man, and he was apparently, to quote the article, _"A Menace."_ Nero didn't understand. He had never heard of anyone named Spider-Man. He looked through the paper and saw there were others. And apparently, they were all superheroes.

Other headlines read _'Iron Man Saves UN', 'Ant-Man and Wasp take down Whirlwind'_ and _'Thor Defeats the Wrecking Crew'_ Thor? Well, if demons exist, wouldn't be surprised if Norse gods did,' Nero thought to himself. But as he looked, he realized this was a legit paper. Which meant that all these heroes were real.

"Yep, in another universe," he muttered to himself as he tossed the paper down and explored the city. He began to wonder about what the meant for him. His mind drifting back to what that demon had said.

"Why would this universe need me?" Nero asked himself, not realizing that he'd reached the harbor. He noticed that there was a large shadow currently gliding across the top over the water. He looked up. And his mouth fell open. Above the water was a giant flying fortress. It looked like a high tech aircraft carrier, except it had 4 giant turbine engines.

 _'Seems like everything's well covered,'_ thought the hunter. However as soon as the thought entered his mind, a loud rumble was heard coming from the aircraft.

"Spoke to soon," he corrected himself as numerous explosions shot across the deck of the giant flying fortress. Parts of buildings suddenly erupted out of the hull, tearing the ship apart from the inside out as more sections broke through. The amount of damage was enough to cause the engines to fail, bringing the giant fortress down and crashing into the bay.

Nero stood frozen for a moment before he rolled his eyes as he unwrapped his coat from Red Queen. He didn't know why he was doing this, but a part of him couldn't ignore this. While it went against Dante's doctrine of not getting involved another part refused to stand idly bay when innocent people could be hurt.

Putting his coat on, Nero slid Red Queen into its sheath as he rolled up his right sleeve.

"Well, no time like the present to get acquainted," said Nero, mostly to himself as he took out Blue Rose and checked the cylinder, finding that all the bullets were still inside. Satisfied, he snapped it shut and holstered the pistol with a spin.

"Let's rock!" shouted the hunter as he sprinted to the end of the dock. Sprinting at full speed, the human-demon leaped into the air, covering almost three-quarters of the distance between the dock and the ship with a single bound.

When he felt himself begin to fall, he lashed out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer shooting and stretched to grab the side of the ship, pulling the hunter towards it where he found an opening and hop into the sinking vessel.

* * *

 _ **SHIELD Helicarrier, Bridge, Hudson Bay**_

On the bridge of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, dozens of technicians and pilots were furiously trying to stabilize the massive aircraft. At the center of the bridge, a dark-skinned man, wearing a stand S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, with black fluffy hair with some white near the sides, an eyepatch that covered his left eye, while, his right eye was brown in color. To S.H.I.E.L.D., this was Director Nick Fury, and his day had gone from bad to worse. To start off, he had received reports that some sort of massive energy surge, appeared in the city, approximately two minutes before everything went to hell. And now the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier was going down into the bay.

Everything had been running normally. Nothing even suggested something could go wrong, no rhyme or reason or issue had come up. The Big House just suddenly exploded.

"Someone get to engineering. Tell them to get us back into the air," ordered Fury, "And someone shut that alarm off!" That last order came with a noticeable amount of annoyance.

"Director Fury," a female agent said while she stood by a console, she had lightly tanned skin while her brown hair was tied back into a bun. Like many of the other agents in the bridge, she was wearing the S.H.I.E.L.D. standard uniform, "A report just came in from the Vault."

"Do I look like I have time for this, Hill?!" yelled Fury, his patience was well over.

"Listen to me!" Hill barked at her superior, but quickly corrected herself when she received a glare from Fury, "Sir, automated reports are coming in from the Vault and the Cube. Their systems have gone offline, and no one is responding from the Big House."

Fury narrowed his remaining eye at the information. The Big House was a prison created to hold supervillains at a smaller size so it could be held within the Helicarrier, however, the prison was now full size once more, "Something is seriously wrong," he stated grimly.

* * *

 _ **New York City, Pier**_

Standing at the edge of a pier, a man with blue eyes, a youthful face, and slicked-back white hair. He is shown to have worn a purple Victorian outfit with a white cravat, a large red jewel around his neck, and a monocle over his left eye. In his hands was an ornate walking stick, more like a cane actually. It was made of wood, painted midnight black, the tip covered with a silver cap while the handle had a dragon like design.

"Hmmm," hummed the man as he adjusted his monocle, the lens flashing as sunlight reflected off it.

He was observing the events that just transpired and if he was being honest, perhaps he was being a bit rash in his decision sending the boy here.

He just witnessed the teen rush into battle; no plan, no idea with what he was getting himself into. Not mention, this world was no less dangerous than his own. However, he commended his bravery, just not quite his intelligence.

"Let's see how he does, shall we?" stated the man in a refined but also casual tone. His body glowed a deep red as he vanished from sight.

 _ **To Be Continued...**_

* * *

 _ **Okay, this story is nothing more than a trial. Like, if it gets good reviews and support, I will continue it. But to be clear, this story will be similar to Avenger's Prime but will be featuring Nero from Devil May Cry 4. It would have a similar backstory as Devil Tail, so Nero's behavior will be the same in that story, but I will make him a little more cynical and sarcastic. However, being a Marvel Comics fan, I have every intention of adding bits from other media like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.(despite the show being kinda bad), Daredevil, X-Men (Movies (despite them not making a lot of sense) and Cartoons (namely Evolution and others)), Fantastic Four (Cartoon), Doctor Strange (Movie Ver.), and Spider-Man (movie or cartoon version is entirely up to you people). In short, I will be creating a story with Nero coming to another reality to start out new.**_

 _ **I know, I basically copied and pasted the intro for Devil Tail into this story, but if you have an opening that works, why change it? But don't worry, I am going to make the fight scene different and there will be a cameo of a certain Devil who will make an appearance much later on. Also, some references to other media.**_

 ** _Also, I'm making Nero nineteen in this story as I have it in good mind that he was either fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen during the events of Devil May Cry 4. So this takes place about one to three years after. Also, doing some research about Nero, there is only one thing I'm going to change and that is his ability to absorb demonic power to absorb power in general because I'm certain Vergil wouldn't be too picky on how much power he gained or what it was._**

 ** _But adding to that, I might give him a Devil Arm; as I did in Devil Tail, not the same kind of weapon as that would be lazy, but something different that hasn't been tried yet. And yes, there will be some moments with Devils._**

 ** _Moving on, I gave Nero's pairing a lot of thought, and if I'm being completely and totally honest. I think I'm going to go with Carol, despite already using her in one of my other stories *Cough* Avengers: Prime *Cough*. Now, let me explain why I am doing her instead of suggestions like_** ** _She-hulk, AKA Jennifer Walters, the Scarlet Witch, AKA Wanda Maximoff, Laura Kinney, Illyana Rasputin AKA Magik_** ** _, Anya Corazon, AKA Spider-Girl, Black Widow, AKA Natasha Romanov,_** ** _Rogue, AKA Anna Marie, and Domino, AKA Neena Thurman is because Carol is the heroine I am most familiar with in terms of writing her personality and being real, she contrasts Nero quite a bit in several categories. However, I might do Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock if you really want someone else other than Carol. But there are some reasons I didn't pair other characters._**

 ** _I can't really use Black Widow as she has a thing with Hawkeye, She-Hulk is the Hulk's cousin (Nuff said due to a threat from the Hulk) and she is much older than Nero in this story, Laura is too...uh...I can't think of a good word to describe Laura's starting personality as rigid and more akin to a soldier. Anya is a new heroine and I'm quite unfamiliar with her, and the others for the same reason, not so familiar. However, while Carol might be the main interest, I have every intention of integrating them into the story, either as a rival (Domino), acquaintance (Black Widow) or good friend/best friend (Anya, Laura, Rogue)._**

 ** _But if you guys really want someone different, I may do Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock, AKA Psylocke, if not then I would have them as a temporary romance before focusing mainly on the budding relationship of Nero and Carol. I know I may be redoing my work from Avengers: Prime, but I can really see Nero and Carol together. However, I could also see Nero and Betsy being a thing, and since she has experience with the use of Katana, Nero could improve his skill with Yamato._**

 ** _But, one reason I may be doing Carol is that of her counterpart, Karla Sofen AKA Moonstone from the Dark Avengers. Yeah, the Dark Avengers are coming into this story as an arc similar to the DC Comics animated movie; specifically Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths. So I figured I'd give Carol her own rival who is literally her. Well not her, but... you know what? Never mind, I'm not gonna try to explain what I mean._**

 ** _However, if you really want someone else, I'll put up a poll with potential pairings._**

 ** _Also, to Red Raven 007, I'm going to take some inspiration from his moveset in DMC 4, but primarily, I'll use his natural feats. I'll create a list of previous feats and likely upper limits he has. I think I could use his stats from_** ** _vsbattles . wikia. They seem reasonable, and if not, I can make more own assumptions, though very strict assumptions, likely his top speed._**


	2. Chapter 2 Break Out

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

* * *

 _ **Avengers May Cry**_

 _ **Chapter 2: Break Out**_

 _ **Helicarrier Lower Deck, Big House**_

He didn't know what he was doing.

Nero pulled himself into the burning/sinking vessel that was previously held aloft in the airspace above the Hudson Bay. A part of him just acted and another wanted to just leave it alone, he wasn't getting paid. No surprise which side won, but in all honesty, the teen couldn't really think of what prompted him to do this.

One moment, he's on a job looking around an old warehouse in Jersey; next thing he knows, he's in New York City, during the day, and was now boarding a crashed _flying_ aircraft carrier. He really shouldn't be that surprised considering his job.

"I feel like I might regret this later on," muttered Nero as he pushed some debris aside and ducked under some cables that hung out of the wall.

Around him, the ship groaned as it took on water while the structure buckled under the extensive damage dealt when a building suddenly blew up. The hunter didn't really know what he would do when he found someone, especially if they saw Devil Bringer. But he snorted in disdain, it's not like he had anything to be ashamed of anymore.

Squeezing through a break in the wall, Nero entered a hallway where he spotted someone on the ground. The person was wearing some sort of suit, that was colored dark blue, with silver straps across the chest, shoulders, waist, and silver boots. The person appeared to be a young man and looked to be dazed. Nero was about to go over and ask if he was okay when a cable suddenly shot out through the smoke that filled the hallway. The cable wrapped around the man and lifted him into the air while also started squeezing the life out of him.

The source of the cable came out of the arm of a man wearing a blue and orange suit with a scale-like design. He was the Constrictor: a supervillain prisoner of the Big House. Somehow the prison had been shut down setting all the prisoners free. And not this villain was about to live up to his namesake.

"Payback Time," he hissed with sarcastic glee.

Nero was about to get involved as the guy was clearly intending on killing the agent. But something happened before the hunter could intervene. A yellow beam struck Constrictor in the chest, causing him to drop the agent before another was sent at him and knocked him into a wall.

"Back off ugly!" A young female voice rang out.

Nero looked at the source and found its owner was a woman about the age of twenty-five, with blue eyes and short auburn hair.

With a shapely figure, she wore a strapless black and yellow dress, black leggings, yellow gloves and boots, and a yellow headset that looked similar to antennas, over her ears. Janet Van Dyne, aka Wasp, was a partner to Hank Pym, aka Ant-Man, and at times a hero. Janet wants to be a full-time hero, but she is always busy scheduling for Hank and his appointments. She and Hank had both been inside the Helicarrier when the Big House returned to full size. Hank had wanted to check the Big House to see if there were any bugs in the system. Understatement of the day.

At the moment, Janet was in her hero mode, meaning her current height was only one inch and two yellow transparent insect-like wings. Janet was checking on the agent to make sure that he was alright. She was then, knocked away from the agent when a cable shot out at her and knocked her into a wall. Wasp fell to the ground as Constrictor stalked over to her and stood right above her, ready to crush Wasp under his boot.

"Time to crush the bug," taunted Constrictor as he prepared to bring his boot down.

"Hey, asshole!" Shouted Nero as he leaped into action and sent out Devil Bringer.

Constrictor looked up in time to see a massive glowing, semi-transparent hand heading right for him. The massive appendage collided with him, smashing the man into its palm as he was slammed into a wall. The ethereal hand vanished, allowing the orange and blue clad supervillain to fall to the ground, unconscious as an imprint of his body was left in the wall.

Wasp looked to where the villain was crushed into the wall before turning back to see what was responsible. She gasped in surprise when emerging through the smoke was a teenager. He was wearing a blue coat, red hoodie, blue jeans, and brown boots. He had his sleeves rolled up as a brown bracelet was strapped to his left wrist and had a ring on his pointer and ring finger. His right hand was outstretched and really caught Janet's attention as it looked...wrong.

He had _claws_ , his skin glowed blue in his palm and part of his fingers while red and blue scales covered his forearm and the top of his hand. An azure glow broke through the top of his hand and trailed down his forearm where it ended in a spike at his elbow. Not to mention, he had platinum blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and a stern expression.

Wasp raised her hands as she flew right up in front of the kid, hands glowing yellow as she hovered right in front of him. Her sudden appearance caused whoever it was, to look at her in surprise if his expression was any indicator.

"Alright, kid," she called out, "You've got three seconds to tell me who you are or I'm gonna put you down, _hard._ " To add emphasis, she pointed her hands right at his face.

Nero just looked at her, his expression changing from surprise to annoyance as he scoffed and folded his arms, "Hell of a way to say thanks," he quipped before he glanced past her and to Constrictor who was still unconscious, "This guy a trouble or something? Would feel pretty embarrassed if I attacked a hero, but I would actually have to care if I did."

Wasp looked at him with some minor surprise at how lightly he was taking the situation, but she brushed it off, "I'm Wasp, a superhero and yeah, he was a bad guy. So, no need to worry," she answered the blonde teen.

Nero looked at her for a moment before he nodded and looked around, "Seems like we need to get this place under control," he stated before turning off into one corridor and entered a light jog as he made his way through. Wasp followed in a little surprise, but she was still confused about him. She'd met a few different heroes, even hearing about several of them in her brief career as a hero herself. She had even met Iron Man, but she hadn't heard of a teen with a demon arm that could create a ghost hand, or even a giant red sword for that matter now that she could see his back.

Her first thought was that he was a mutant, but he could also be an experiment gone wrong. Maybe Hank would know if they could find him. That's when the thought of Hank hit her. He was inside the Big House when it failed! Armed with this information, she flew right in front of the teen and hovered right in front of him.

"Wait!" shouted Wasp, halting the platinum blonde, "We have to get Ant-Man! He was in the Big House when the explosion happened!"

Nero recalled that name on the newspaper he found. He was some kind of hero in this world, however, the hunter was quickly snapped out of his thoughts as the heroine continued, "He was with all the super villains! We have to help him, now!"

"Right, right," he nodded, seeing the pleading look in her eyes and the desperation in her voice, "We'll get him and anyone off this boat."

With that, Wasp flew in the opposite direction, Nero following her as he ran through the hallway, vaulting and weaving through debris and around small fires and exposed electrical cables that were sparking madly. As she flew and he ran, the heroine glanced back to see Nero flip over a collapsed segment of a wall and continue his run.

She flew back slightly to fly next to him, figuring she might as well try to get to know her new ally, "So, you got a name?" asked Janet, glancing at Nero.

"Nero," he answered evenly.

"That you're hero name or actual cause most heroes have a secret identity," rambled Wasp, giving the teen a curious look.

"It's what you can call me," clarified Nero, glancing at her with a careful glance.

"Sorry, don't have to be rude," defended Wasp as she turned her entire body to face him and still maintain her forward momentum, even as she placed her hands on her hips in an offended manner.

"Had a rough day, not in the best of moods," he explained, sending her another glance, though it was small, she could see in his eyes he meant it.

"What happened?" pressed the small heroine as her offended look melted into curiosity. Now she was really interested as he was completely new to her. At this, Nero stopped as he brought Devil Bringer to his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out an annoyed sigh.

"Listen Tinkerbell," started Nero as he looked her in the eyes, "We can play twenty questions all you want _after_ we save what's-his-name and all is said and done. Okay?" The brunette nodded, understanding the needed to focus on the task at hand, "Great, now if we're done here, let's go," with everything planned out, the miniature heroine and hunter continued down the hallway. Hoping to find Ant-Man before any of the villains found him.

* * *

 _ **Big House, S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier**_

Inside the Big House, things were not going well for Ant-Man, alias Dr. Henry 'Hank' Pym. He was currently running through the ruins of the former Big House. Being a man of an average build, wearing a red and black suit, with a special belt with two buttons on either side, a silver helmet that covered the majority of his face, save for his mouth. The helmet also had two antennas on top and white one-way lenses that shielded his eyes. Ant-Man was currently attempting to escape one of the villains that broke out, Whirlwind.

The tornado villain was able to knock Hank down onto his chest, allowing Whirlwind to flip him onto his back so he could grab his shirt and pull the scientist towards his face to glare into Ant-Man's eyes.

"After I'm through with you," threatened the villain, "I'm gonna find that bug girl and tear her apart."

Ant-Man only groaned in pain as he had taken a lot of punishment from several villains he had tried to rehabilitate. Despite being a hero, Hank was also a pacifist, always trying to find a way to solve conflicts through reasoning and words, not violence and fighting. From behind Ant-Man came a low growl, thankfully Whirlwind did not hear it. Ant-Man looked behind himself to see another villain emerging from the rubble, the Griffin. The Griffin looked up at Ant-Man and then flew up to attack, giving Ant-Man an idea.

"I'd let you tell Wasp yourself, but you're about to get knocked out," quipped Ant-Man as he activated his suits Pym Particles, shrinking him down, leaving Whirlwind to get tackled by Griffin.

Ant-Man fell a few yards down until he was caught by Wasp, "So, how's your day been?" asked Wasp in a cheerful tone.

"Painful," groaned Ant-Man as he hung onto Wasp's arms.

Griffin suddenly appeared above them, having recovered from the accidental head-on crash with Whirlwind. Before he could crush them or even reach them, the villain was suddenly smashed into a wall by a figure. A powerful shout erupted from whoever it was as he flipped back and grabbed onto a wall, digging his right-hand fingertips into the wall as his left hand was busy holding a massive sword.

"Jan," started Hank, looking at their new arrival with curiosity, especially on his right arm which looked something otherworldly, "would you like to introduce your new friend to me?"

"Oh, right," realized Wasp, rolling her eyes as she almost forgot, "Ant-Man, Nero. Nero, Ant-Man."

"Should've guessed you'd be the size of an ant," snorted Nero, shaking his head as a small smirk formed before it vanished as quickly as it appeared, "There anyone else in here when this place went to hell?"

"No," answered Hank, shaking his head, "I was the only one inside the Big House when it malfunctioned. Right now, I think we should get out as well. The entire ship is sinking, everyone else should have been evacuated by now."

"No point in us sticking around here then," concluded the Hunter, earning a nod from Wasp as she carried Ant-Man while Nero jumped from wall to wall as the ship was taking on water very fast.

The trio escaped the sinking vessel through a hole in the hull. Nero flipped onto the side and leaped off with as much strength as he could muster. This launched him well over to the pier where he landed in a crouch while Wasp flew as quickly as she could after him.

"You could wait for us!" scolded Wasp as she set Ant-Man down on the dock, letting him grow to normal size with the press of a button.

"I would, but I can't fly," responded the teen as he folded his arms, giving her an uncaring look.

* * *

 _ **S.H.I.E.L.D. Jumpjet, Hudson Bay**_

Around the same time, Fury was heading towards a barge, aboard a helicopter with several other agents. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was concerned about the situation at the final of the four prisons designed to hold supervillains. He received reports from the first three about the containment failures, and now he was heading to the last to make sure containment was at full force.

The helicopter landed on the barge, Fury and the agents all disembarked from the helicopter. "Look alive, boys," Ordered Fury as he took point, "Shoot first, ask questions later."

With that, he and his men began to head for the elevator, only to stop in their tracks when they felt the deck beneath began shaking. Then with a sudden jolt, the barge lifted into the air, out of the water, revealing a long elevator shaft that was connected to the barge. At the opposite end of the barge was a large dome-like structure. In the sky, the Raft floated above the bay.

"Evac now!" yelled Fury to his men heading directly towards the helicopter, "Abort the mission! Everyone off this barge!"

Fury was one step away from the chopper some sort of invisible force stopped him in his tracks. He was then pulled up into the air, turning him towards the source of the invisible force. Around him, pieces of debris, chunks of rock and general scrap floated in the around what was causing the anomaly.

The source was a Caucasian man with black hair and a beard with some white streaks and black hair. He also wore a light blue and white suit, two white belts around his waist and white shoulder pads.

Trying to escape the villain's grasp, Fury pulled out his pistol and took aim, however, the villain merely moved his pointer finger and Fury's pistol was yanked from his grasp. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. glared up at the man, uttering one name.

"Graviton."

Approximately one decade prior to the current day, Franklin Hall, ingenious physicists, was asked by Fury to join S.H.I.E.L.D. to work on the super soldier project. Hall agreed and experimented with the use of Gravity, however, the experiment itself went sideways very fast. Ignoring Fury's order to shut the experiment down, Hall continued his work and nearly paid the price with his life when the experiment failed.

Hall woke up in a hospital, discovering he had the power to manipulate Gravity itself. Blaming Fury for the accident, Hall attempted to escape but was sedated using a powerful knockout gas that rendered him unconscious. Placed inside the Raft, Hall woke when the breakout occurred, ten years had passed, and Hall wanted payback for the imprisonment.

Now that he had his freedom, and in his control with the power of gravity, the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison and the director himself hung in his grasp. Hall glared down upon the man who imprisoned him for so long.

"What do you want, Hall?" demanded Fury, but a part of him could guess what the former physicist wanted.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I want," spat Hall, his eyes glowing thanks to the power he possessed, "I want to treat you with the same level of kindness you've shown me. I'm going to take years off your life."

With that, Hall began closing his right hand, the air around his hand became distorted, and Fury began to feel a tremendous amount of pain coursed through his body. Hall used his powers to compress the molecules within him, so he was literally crushing the director into nothing.

The pain subsided for a second, "On second thought, I think I'll take them all," Hall closed his hand all the way, the same pain and pressure coming back in full force.

Around the same time, Nero, Wasp, and Ant-Man had landed on the pier, the later at his normal height while Wasp hovered where she was. Just as the two insect-themed heroes were about to start questioning the teen, he saw the giant super prison being suspended in the air in the bay. His attention on the man being suspended in the air by another that looked to be the one responsible for the prison floating in the air.

A part of him told him not to get involved, but another told him to help the man. The later part won out as Nero sprinted to the end of the pier and leaped into the air. The Hunter saw pieces of debris floating around which gave him an idea to get to the man. Lashing out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer flew towards an I beam that likely came from the ship sinking, the ethereal appendage wrapped its fingers around it and yanked him towards it.

The teen used the beam to vault to a piece of debris to make his way to villain. However, before he could make another leap, an object shot past Nero. The teen stopped on a section of stone as what appeared to be a hammer heading right for the gravity villain. Nero narrowed his eyes carefully; initially, he did not really think the hammer would do that much but the most dangerous things can be the most unassuming in appearance. And that was proven when the hammer collided with Graviton, both hammer and villain were cascading back.

Without Graviton's concentration holding up the Raft, the debris, or Fury; the facility, debris, and director began falling down towards the bay. The aforementioned objects had just barely started falling when Nero leaped into action. Lashing out Spectral Bringer once more, he yanked himself passed a large pipe and right towards the man. Catching him and slinging him over his left shoulder. Nero landed on a falling boulder and launched himself back to the pier, all the while the objects fell.

"What the... Who are you?" demanded Fury as he noticed he wasn't falling anymore.

"Save your ass now, identity later," replied the hunter, before he noticed the debris wasn't falling anymore as he leaped between the pieces and glanced back long enough to see Graviton regain himself and his concentration, halting the object's descent and that he was now coming after them, "Your buddy's coming after us."

As Nero leaped between chunks of debris, he saw someone else flying in the direction of the hammer and Graviton. He was a large and heavily built man with enormous muscular arms with long legs. Wearing black armor with silver disks on the chest, a long red cape, silver helmet, blue leggings, red wristbands, a golden belt, and golden shoes. The man held out his hand, the hammer from earlier returning to him.

This was Thor, Prince of Asgard, and his hammer, Mjolnir, the source of his godly power. At first, Nero had been skeptical that this was the actual Thor, but after seeing him in person, those thoughts were still skeptical, but open to being proven wrong.

"Your power is impressive for a mortal," said Thor, using old English dialect and grammar. "Stand down now before anyone is hurt, and you may yet walk away from this."

Thor lifted Mjolnir to back up his threat.

Graviton flew up to meet the thunderer, hovering a short distance from the thunder god, supposedly without fear.

"Fury called me Graviton," began Hall, a slight hint of madness laced in his words. "Fury, he knows I can control gravity. I can do anything."

Stated the physicist as he raised his arms, his eyes glowing with power, "I'll crush Fury, I'll crush you. And then I'll show the world the power I have!"

"I think not, villain," Thor then took Mjolnir by the strap and spun it around to gain momentum and launched himself at Graviton, "Have at thee!"

As Thor and Graviton began to fight, Nero leaped from one final piece of debris before he landed on the pier, his boots sliding against the wood as he crouched to slow down their momentum. The hunter straightened himself out before he set the director down on his feet while the teen folded his arms and looked back at the impending fight.

Fury gave Nero a long, hard look, not that the hunter cared as he was more focused on the fight.

"Anything you'd like to tell us Fury?" asked Ant-Man, making no attempt to try and conceal the sarcasm that was laced in his words as he looked at the S.H.I.E.L.D. director. Narrowed eyes a somewhat annoyed expression crossed his face.

"Not really," retorted the director, glancing at Pym once more before he turned on his heel as Nero look back in time to see him use his earpiece to relay an order, "S.H.I.E.L.D. command. This Director Fury. I am declaring an Omega-level emergency. Every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Hulkbuster unit, the U.N. forces, they are all under my direct control."

"Wow," commented Wasp as she looked Ant-Man and Nero, who turned completely around, but kept his arms folded, "Nick Fury is actually worried."

"From what's going on, I'd guess that doesn't happen often," drawled Nero as he jabbed a thumb at the fight behind him between the possible Norse god of thunder and a man who can manipulate gravity like a god.

"Who is he?" demanded Ant-Man, trying to get some information as the situation was getting completely out of hand. Fury didn't say anything for a moment, as if he took an invisible before letting out a silent huff before he turned to look at the three heroes before him.

"Doctor Franklin Hall," said Fury finally and with no small amount of reluctance.

"The physicist? No one's heard from him in years. Not since he joined S.H.I.E.L.D.," Ant-Man's helmet retracted, revealing a man with light brown hair and soft brown eyes, ones filled with concern, "What happened to him?" His question also carried an amount of concern.

"That's classified," stated Fury sharply as looked at the scientist with his good eye.

"Well, keeping it classified isn't going to do anyone any favors so start talking, pal," demanded Nero, getting fed up with everything at this point and right now, this Fury guy was at the bottom of his favorite person list.

"You don't give me a lecture on putting people at risk," seethed Fury, his glare worsening through his remaining eye.

"Won't make any friends with that attitude," scoffed the teen as he gave a condescending smirk, though quickly narrowed his eyes as he lost his sense of humor, "But if you want to so bad, all you need to know is I'll help you settle this. Afterward, we'll have a chat and I'll tell you whatever it is you want to know. But if it's all the same to you," Nero then turned his back to them and started towards the end of the pier, "I've gotta do my job."

"Which is?" asked Ant-Man, watching cautiously as Nero made his way to the edge of the pier.

The hunter looked back as he stopped at the edge, giving them a small smirk, "Kicking ass and saving the day," was all he said before he leaped into the air and shot out Spectral Bringer. The ethereal appendage stretched far enough to latch onto a piece of debris that was caught in Graviton's gravitational field and pulled himself towards it before leaping off and hopped between objects.

The two part-time heroes watched a little stunned at the agility, strength, and acrobatics of the teen as he weaved through the debris while the super spy only remained neutral in his expression.

* * *

 _ **Above Hudson Bay, New York City**_

The battle between Thor and Graviton was not going well for the Thunderer, while his first attack caught the villain off guard, that changed dramatically as the battle raged on. Thor swung Mjolnir at Graviton multiple times, only to be stopped by an invisible shield each time. While Thor continued to attack Graviton head-on, the villain had actually left his rear flank exposed.

"Dumbass," muttered Nero as he perched himself on a beam before he leaped into the air towards a chunk of rock, flipping around so he could plant his feet against it, the hunter launched himself with all his might while drawing Red Queen.

"Hey, Asshole!" shouted the platinum blonde, drawing Graviton's attention as he swung right at the villain's chest. The blade impacted against him, the man too caught off guard to react fast enough was smashed away from Thor as the edge of the sword didn't slash him in two.

When he felt himself starting to fall, Nero swung out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer appearing and grabbed a chunk of debris and pulled the hunter towards it where he flipped around and landed on top while Thor turned to see the teen rest Red Queen on his shoulder and roll his right wrist around.

"What manner of warrior are you?" asked Thor, looking at his new ally.

Nero snorted in amusement, _'Gotta give the guy credit for playing the part too,'_ he thought as he scratched the back of his head.

"Name's Nero. I'm only here, to make sure no one gets hurt," answered the hunter honestly.

Thor nodded, however, he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly when his gaze fell upon Devil Bringer. He could sense magic coming from this boy. Powerful, not unlike Asgardian magic, but something much different. It was dark and clouding, but strangely, it was also reassuring and true.

Before he could ponder over his arm any further, Graviton reappeared from when Nero slammed Red Queen into his back. His eyes blazing with anger as he did not appreciate being blindsided by a child. His sudden appearance caught the attention of both Thor and the teen who took his sword into his right hand and reached to his holster and drew Blue Rose, holding both of his signature weapons in each hand.

"Then let us do battle, Nero," announced Thor as he raised his hammer, "For this villain must know that we defend this realm!"

He then charged as Nero took aim with Blue Rose, and fired several bullets at the gravakinetic villain. Thor attacked first, swing his hammer against Graviton's shield, while the hunter leaped between chunks of debris, firing at any angle he could get at the man. Graviton didn't even move as the teen's bullets collided with his shield and bounced off in random directions, despite the angle Nero took.

Hall just scoffed at the feeble attempts to harm him. He wielded the power to shape the world to his liking. The physicist merely swung his hand out lazily, sending Thor flying back while Nero managed to escape the range of his control in time by leaping to another chunk and fire more at the villain. Suddenly, the teen leaped at Graviton with a shout as he drew Red Queen back and swung the blade at him. The scientist folded his arms as the sword impacted against it, the hunter gritting his teeth in anger as he pushed off. However, his attack did allow Thor to regain himself rejoin the fight.

On the pier, Wasp, Ant-Man, and Fury were watching the battle unfold. At this point, Wasp had lost her last shred of restraint, "We have to help," stated Wasp out loud to both me, causing both to turn towards her, "If they're going to risk their lives for our planet, then we have no right to do any less."

Ant-Man sent Wasp a worried look, while Fury remained passive. While Ant-Man did agree that they needed to help the two heroes, Janet was just way too inexperienced and way out of her depth to be taking on a villain that can control a fundamental force. She was suggesting on fighting someone who was leagues above their weight class in terms of raw power.

"Jan, be reasonable we can't-," Hank tried to reason with her, but whatever he was going to say was lost to the world as the woman cut him off.

"I can't just stand here and watch this," retorted Wasp, her words completely laced with determination, "We have to do something. If Thor and Nero can't stop him, he'll come after the city!"

Fury narrowed his one eye, "You think I don't know that?" asked the director sarcastically, as if it were obvious. If she thought she understood the gravity of the situation at hand, then she'd know this is far more serious than just New York City and the people.

"Jan," began Ant-Man as he placed a hand on Wasps' shoulder, but the hand was brushed off. The brunette heroine looked at her friend with eyes full of determination. She wasn't going to stand idly by while two people were risking their lives for everyone in the city.

"We're talking millions of people; I'm not going to let that happen," stated Wasp as she shrunk down and flew off to help Thor and Nero.

"Jan! Jan, wait!" called Ant-Man as he reached out a hand to try and stop her. Now Ant-Man stood on the pier to watch her fly right into battle.

Speaking of the battle, Nero was caught by Graviton in his gravitational pull and pulled the teen right towards him. The hunter grunted as he tried to break free before he was thrown into a large chunk of rock, smashing right through it. He tumbled through the air, colliding with an I-beam, wrapping an arm around it as he panted. Meanwhile, Thor tried to follow up where the Demon hunter failed and flew right towards Hall.

He met a similar result when the villain caught him, holding him in front of him with his power.

"Can't your feeble minds comprehend what I'M TELLING YOU?!" demanded Graviton insanely as his eyes blazed with power as he focused on the Norse God before him, I control one of the four fundamental forces of reality itself! I can remove gravity's effect on you and send you hurtling into space. OR, I could increase it a thousandfold, LIKE THIS!"

To show his power, Graviton lowered his left, sending Thor directly into the bay where he sunk to the bottom and into the muddy sand. Nero watched as the thunderer sank beneath the water and growled angrily. Mustering his strength, he flipped onto the I-beam, landing on his feet before he launched himself at Hall. The villain was so preoccupied with his musing and monologue he didn't notice the teen flying right towards him.

With a growl, Nero drew Red Queen back as he holstered Blue Rose in order to take the sword in both hands. With a shout, he revved the Exceed within the sword to the max, flames erupting from the weapon as he slashed at Hall from behind. The strength of the attack was enough to send the man flying into a chunk of rock. The chunk was as big as a stage in a small theatre, but it provided plenty of room.

During the fight, Nero figured out that this guy's powers were also passive. Which explained why sometimes when he was knocked back, debris wouldn't fall very far. Good for him because he can't fly.

The hunter landed on the stage-sized boulder and charged right towards Hall who was pulling himself to his feet. Wimonstroustrous shout, he swung with all his might, the blade not slicing the man in two thanks to his powers protecting him, but it still felt like he was being beaten with a hunk of iron.

The sword strike felt like a bus as Graviton was sent sliding back on his heels as he grunted in annoyance rather than pain. He glared at the teen who was charging right towards him. He swung out his right hand, the air distorting as he sent a blast of gravitation flux at him. The hunter easily dodged it by leaping into the air towards a girder that was flying overhead. He maneuvered himself in a way that allowed his heels to come into contact with the metal support and launched off of it right at the physicist.

Sword drawn back once more, Nero let out another shout as he brought the sword down, the blade impacted against Graviton's shield. Surprisingly, the shield warped just tiny bit, but that warp was enough to cause the villain to widen his eyes in surprise. This child was far stronger than he realized. And his lapse in attention was what allowed Nero to flip right over him, pushing off with his sword.

As the platinum blonde flipped over, he spun around and sent Spectral Bringer right at Graviton's back. The ethereal hand was not subject to the laws of gravity like he was so it passed right through the man's shield and grabbed him by his back. The glowing fingers tightened around his waist as Hall was yanked right off his feet and hurled at a large section of some wall.

The villain smashed right through the wall, letting out a surprised shout as his steadied himself in the air. He locked his eyes on Nero who leaped right after him, Red Queen drawn back once more, but the hunter's momentum came to a screeching halt as the teen froze in the air. All of his motion came to naught as he was trapped in his targets' grasp.

"Enough!" bellowed Hall as he thrust his right hand out, his eyes blazing bright blue.

The teen's body was sent flying back at the stage-sized slab of debris where he smashed right through it. Nero let out a grunt as he broke through the stone as he tumbled through the air. Despite the impact, he was able to regain himself quick enough to lash out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer appearing to grab a piece of debris to catch himself and pull him up from the water. The young man flew towards a pipe and flip around so he was sitting on it.

With the 'god' disposed of and the brat out of his way, Graviton was free to direct his attention to the source of his pain. Looking around, he spotted Director Fury standing at the end of the pier.

"FURY!" roared Graviton as he sped towards the docks, his mind dead set on his vengeance against the man who locked him away for so long.

However, he only made it half the distance between his previous position and the dock when he felt a sharp sting on his face. He stopped in place immediately as he looked around for the source of his pain. His first thought was that brat who attacked him alongside that idiot with the hammer. However, his assumption was proven false when the one responsible started talking.

"Franklin Hall," said a female voice from somewhere, causing him to look around for the culprit, "you give Theoretical Physicists a bad name," stated the voice as Wasp flew around towards Graviton's face, "Now knock it off before I make you."

"Are you joking?" laughed the villain, as he kinda had the right to considering the power at his disposal and the fact that Wasp was only an inch tall, "With the power at my disposal, there's not-OW!"

Graviton was cut off when Wasp suddenly shot his nose with her Bio-Stings. The insect heroine flew around the villain, zapping whatever part of him she could. She knew she couldn't take him down by herself, but that didn't stop her from trying as she fired all she had at him. The villain let out surprised shouts as she stung him. He wasn't in any pain but was more surprised than anything.

"OW! OW! OW! AAH!" he shouted as Wasp stung him all over the place.

This distraction was all Nero needed as he jumped up from his sitting position and onto his feet on the narrow pipe. He knew that Wasp wasn't strong enough, but her actions did give him the opening he needed. Flipping back, he summoned Spectral Bringer and latched onto the pipe he was previously on. Flipping on the pipe, he launched himself with as much strength as he could.

Flying right towards Graviton who was still distracted, the teen growled as he pulled Devil Bringer back, his entire hand started shinning as he pushed as much power as he could into his forearm. Spectral Bringer also appeared, growing in size until it was almost five times its original size. Wasp was still currently attacking Graviton, causing him more and more annoyance, until he sent a wave of gravitational energy right at the heroine sending her flying back.

Noticing something in the corner of his eye, Graviton had only a second to widen his eyes as a massive, glowing fist smashed right into his body. The blow was strong enough to send him flying down to the water where he was just able to halt himself before he took a dip in the Hudson.

Wasp recovered herself in time to see Nero falling and flew down to grab the teen by the back of his coat, managing to hold him up in the air. The hunter, safe to say, was pretty surprised by how she was able to support his weight considering how much smaller she was. He looked up to see she was just able to hold him up.

"Surprised to see you can actually lift me," he commented humorously.

"Would be easier if weighed a little less," strained Wasp as she looked down with a smile.

"You saying I need to lose some weight?" he shot back, however, before she could respond, the heroine and hunter saw Graviton flying right towards them. But before either of them could react, a blur of gold and red slammed into his side. The two objects sped towards the water and once they were close enough, the blur shot a beam of blue energy that sent Graviton into the water.

When the blur stopped Nero got a good look at the new arrival. It was a man, well what looked like a man, in an advanced suit of armor. The armor was primarily red, with gold on parts of his arms, legs, and face, and had a blue light coming from his chest. This was Tony Stark aka Iron Man.

"Hey, Janet," greeted the billionaire, playboy as he flew closer as Wasp's movements were limited by Nero's weight, "I knew we traveled in some of the same social circles, but I didn't know you came to parties like this."

It was then the genius noticed Nero hanging by the scuff of his coat with a neutral expression though he did have a curious look in his eyes when he looked at the inventor wearing his, arguably, greatest achievement, "And who's the kid? You and Hank do the deed and decided to keep him a secret or something?"

"Jesus," muttered Nero while Wasp blushed bright crimson, "No, I'm not their kid. Name's Nero. I was in the area when everything went to hell. I'll explain more about myself later."

Iron Man blinked behind his faceplate, taking in the rapid-fire response the new hero just laid on him. He then gave the teen a thumbs up, but not before he noticed his right arm and stared at it for a second before he turned back to Wasp.

"So who was that guy?" asked Iron Man, "Some crazy physicist?"

Wasp shook her head, "Something to do with Nick Fury. Tony, am I glad to see you." She said with slight relief in her voice, "I wasn't sure how much longer we could keep this up after… Oh, no. Thor!" she screamed as she flew across the water.

"Woah, take it easy! You've got a passenger!" shouted Nero as he flinched a bit by the sudden movement and raised his legs and sword away from the water beneath him.

"What?" demanded Iron Man as he flew next to the two. Did he hear Janet correctly? Thor?

"Thor; Norse god of Thunder," said Nero, getting over his initial shock and turned to glance at the gold faceplate, "Big guy, blonde hair, blue eyes, carries a hammer, talks like he should be in a Shakespeare play. Graviton sent him to the bottom of the bay."

"We have to help him," Wasp stated as the two heroes and hunter flew to where she last saw the Asgardian.

Suddenly the water separated as Graviton emerged from the water, not looking very happy after getting a repulsor blast to the face. The three heroes turned as the Lord of Gravity glared daggers at them, specifically Iron Man and Nero.

 _"Warning gravitational field around the target is in flux. Extreme caution advised,"_ Came the British voice of Iron Mans trusty on bored A.I, J.A.R.V.I.S. As it displayed the energy levels on the inside of Iron Mans helmet.

"Guys, the energy he's putting out the only comparison is a black hole," the Armored hero warned his comrades, "This guy is trouble."

"No shit," snapped Nero as he sheathed Red Queen across his back and drew Blue Rose and took aim at the villain. He gritted his teeth as he clenched Devil Bringer tightly. The demonic arm suddenly started glowing brightly, as did Blue Rose. Blue energy swirled around the barrel of the handgun as he concentrated demonic power into the firearm.

The heroes looked at the arm with interest as it started glowing a brighter, azure. The teen then spotted a nearby chunk of rock and looked back at Wasp.

"Drop me," ordered the hunter glancing at the rock. Seeing where he was looking, Wasp nodded as she set him down on the stone. With his feet on solid ground, he took Blue Rose with both hands and directed more energy into.

"Give it all you've got!" shouted the hunter as he fired a demonically charged round at Graviton. The round flew right towards the Lord of Gravity and collided with his shield, detonating on impact. Taken by surprise, Graviton stumbled back in the air. The other two heroes, after getting over their shock, attack with their own respective attacks of stingers and repulsor rays. Nero fired several more shots.

However, Graviton managed to create a force field to repel the combined attacks. He sneered as he flicked his wrist causing Iron Man to be sent hurtling into the sky, while Nero was sent flying back, a surprised shout escaping him as he flew right across the entire bay where he smashed into a building along the shore. Leaving Wasp to fly up and try to keep the gravity villain focused on her, so her two allies could come back to take him out.

Meanwhile, back at the docks, Ant-Man was watching as the battle took place. When he saw how easily Graviton took out Thor, Iron Man, and Nero, the scientist knew he couldn't stand by anymore. It was clear talking was out of the question and he had to step in.

"What are Graviton's upper limits?" the size-changing hero asked Nick Fury, who was still trying to coordinate an attack to contain the escaped villains.

"We've studied him for years, and as far as we could tell, he doesn't have any," The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D responded as he realized what the hero had planned, "What do you think you're going to do, Pym? Talk him down?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, it's too late for that," And with that Ant-Man reached down to his belt and pressed the button on the right side. A blue aura then surrounded the hero. Nick Fury watched, with a neutral expression, as a shadow suddenly fell over the pier.

Wasp was stinging the gravity villain in every place she could find, doing everything to annoy him. It worked however as Graviton one again released a wave of energy to push the shrinking heroin back. But just before he could focus on crushing her, a pair of giant hands came out of nowhere and wrapped around the gravity villain, trapping him inside.

The person was revealed to be Hank Pym, now in his second alter ego, Giant-Man. He had the exact same suit as Ant-Man, only the part of the suit that was black was now glowing blue, and instead of a helmet, he wore a mask that covered his face and had appendages on top that resembled insect feelers. he had grown 60 feet and kept his hand tightly raped around Graviton.

"Hank, you went big," Wasp said in surprise. Hank had told her that he was capable of using his Pym Particles to grow in size and increase his strength, but he had never found a use for it until now that is.

"Janet, get out of here. I'll handle Graviton," The titan hero said, while knowing full well that he couldn't stop the gravity villain, Hank believed that he could at least slow him down, long enough for Janet to get to safety and for the S.H.I.E.L.D reinforcements to arrive.

"What? No, we're in this together," She responded stubbornly. Giant-Man looked like he was ready to argue but, suddenly Graviton increased his power to blow back the giants hands, and then released a gravity wave that sent both heroes crashing back into the dock. Giant-Man crushing most of it under his bulk.

At this moment Graviton was furious, he could have ended Nick Fury already if the heroes hadn't interfered. And now there was no sign of his target. Then the lord of Gravity had an idea. He knew Fury was still somewhere in the city, so what better way to kill him and show the world the power he wielded; two birds, one stone.

With a raise of his hand, the city began to shake. The heroes all felt the city begin to jerk when suddenly the ground began to rise. Graviton had used his powers to raise the section of the city they were in into the sky with the hundreds of other objects trapped in his gravitational field. Thousands of tons of rock and earth were lifted into the air with everyone on it. Graviton smiled with sickening glee as the city rose, the world will tremble at his power, and no one would ever stand against him again.

This however proved to be wrong, when the gravity villain heard a yell come from behind him. He turned to see Thor coming right at him, he had finally broken free of Graviton's field after Giant-Man's attack had distracted the villain long enough for him to escape from the ocean floor.

The Asgardian Prince raised his hammer to its zenith, magical lightning crackling around it, and slammed it into Graviton's force field. The strength and power behind the attack were enough to send the gravity villain flying into the side of the mesa he raised.

Without Graviton's power holding it up, the entire section on Manhattan began to rapidly decent back down to the ground. Knowing that the impact could kill all within the city, and possibly the surrounding area, Thor sped down under the falling mass. When he got into position, he used his godly strength to hold catch the city, even though he was nowhere near strong enough to stop it, he could at least slow its descent so there would be no damage.

Graviton, however, recovered from the Thunder Gods attack and was prepared to crush him, for interfering again. Before he could exact his revenge, he was interrupted when he felt what he could guess was a pair of boots slam into his face. The impact was enough to send him flying down to a large slab of rock here his back smashed into it before he tumbled across the surface. Nero landed on the edge of the slab, Red Queen drawn as a look of anger plastered his face.

The hunter had seen or rather felt what happened, the buildings and city being raised into the air. Using Spectral Bringer and his own natural strength, he leaped between pieces of debris to attack the villain from behind. He also saw Thor trying to save the city and he was dammed if he let this guy hurt anyone.

Charging at Graviton, Nero dragged the tip of Red Queen across the ground in his left hand as he closed the distance almost immediately. With a shout, he swung Red Queen low, sweeping at the villain's legs, taking them out from underneath the scientist turn power hungry villain. The man let out a surprised shout as he felt his world spin around, but his pain was just started as the teen grabbed his ankle with his right hand and began to smash him around.

Treating him as though he was a rag doll, Nero smashed him into the ground repeatedly. He then swung Graviton around, dragging him across the stone slab before he leaped into the air and threw the man down so hard, the slab shattered, injuring him further.

Lashing out Devil Bringer, the hunter sent Spectral Bringer towards a car, which likely came from the city and mounted the vehicle carefully as he halted his onslaught to find a solid surface to stand on. Nero let out a huff of annoyance when he saw that the gravity villain wasn't down, but rather was glaring at the demon hunter with glowing eyes full of hate. He then launched himself forward, creating a gravity field, which sent him and Nero flying into the city, around the same time Thor lowered the entire city back into its original resting place.

* * *

 _ **Stratosphere, Earth**_

In orbit above the Earth, Iron Man was fighting for his life to escape the gravity field Graviton had trapped him in.

"I need more power!" He shouted as he fired all his repulsors in his boots and palms, desperately trying to return to earth. However, his prayers were answered when J.A.R.V.I.S spoke through his internal speakers.

 _"Note: Gravitational effect has ceased,"_ The A.I stated, with a sigh of relief, Iron Man rocketed back towards the city.

* * *

 _ **New York City, New York**_

Things weren't going well for him. Nero was just slammed into the street by Graviton with enough force to create a rather large crater. Then lifted him up along with several cars, loose debris and other objects, making them all orbit around him. The hunter didn't know if fighting this guy was worth it anymore, but he couldn't quit now.

Nero tried to find a way out of the orbit created by the villain, but his strength with was much stronger than he could effectively deal with. He thought of a few solutions, but this guy could easily counter them, however, one idea did come to mind. He just wasn't sure if it would work, but what's life without a little risk? Flipping Red Queen, the hunter gripped the throttle to the exceed tightly in his left hand.

Revving the mechanism, he gunned it as much as he could. The resulting discharge of flames was enough to send Nero flying forward, spinning around Graviton faster. He did this for a short time before he angled his sword slightly which sent him flying right towards the gravity villain, taking him by surprise.

Spinning around in the air, Nero threw Devil Bringer right at the man, slugging him in the jaw hard enough to send the Lord of Gravity flying into the crater he created when he smashed the hunter into the ground a second ago. The demon hunter landed on the street and sprinted towards the edge of the crater, coming to a stop just at the rim of the crater where he saw Graviton rise again, eyes glowing with pure hatred.

"You know, you'd save us a lot of trouble if you just gave up," suggested Nero in a sassy tone.

"Insolent brat!" snapped Graviton as he glared at the teen, "Your interference is over! I'll crush you, like the bug you are!"

"I'd be careful," cautioned Nero as a taunting grin spread across his face, "I hear some bugs are lethal."

Graviton then raised his hands intending to attack the demon hunter. When suddenly, a mystically charged hammer, courtesy of Thor who was now floating down towards the battle, struck him and sent him right back into the crater.

"I recommend you stay down, mortal," He said as Mjolnir flew back into his hand.

The Lord of Gravity rose again from the ground again, "You think you can stop me?" He said to the god and hunter, "I've beaten you before. I can do it again!" He then tried to attack the two, but once again he was interrupted as a giant beam of energy struck him and sent him, for the third time back into the crater.

The beam came from Iron Man's uni-beam as he rejoined the other heroes in surrounding the gravity villain, "You really should listen to them," he warned.

Graviton was about to rise again when a giant foot stomped down behind him. He turned to see Giant Man staring down at him.

"You're sick, Franklin," The size-changing hero tried to reason with the villain once more, "You need help."

"Or possibly more zapping," Wasp quipped as she flew in close to Graviton's face, her hands glowing with energy to back up her threat.

Surrounded on all sides, Graviton stared at each hero and hunter, his mind swirling with rage and annoyance. Slipping deeper and deeper into the void of letting his power get to his mind. All of them stopped him from getting his revenge, his justice he deserves.

It's Fury's fault he lost ten years of his life, ten years he could never get back. No. NO, this will not be allowed, he won't allow this, "No, No, the power I wield-I-YOU ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!" Roared Graviton as he sent a huge wave of gravity outwards, colliding with every hero and hunter present.

They were all then pinned against the surrounding buildings, Graviton rising into the air, eyes ablaze with power and his hands raised into the air.

"I'M STRONGER THAN ALL OF YOU! I'M THE STRONGEST ONE THERE IS!"

Just as he finished that sentence, a loud crash sounded behind him. Whipping around, Graviton saw someone that made his eyes widen with surprise.

Standing on the roof of the building behind him, a ten-foot tall, six-foot wide creature with green skin, green eyes, green-black hair, and purple pants, that barely fit as the creature had muscles far more powerful than any other being on record. This was the Hulk, the most dangerous man alive.

"You sure about that?" asked Hulk with a smirk.

Before he could even respond, Hulk leaped off the building, tackling Graviton across the entire bay towards the opposite side. While in the air, gamma giant grabbed the villain by his waist and threw a brutal punch right in his face. The two then crash landed in an abandoned shipping yard, causing a large shockwave that sent several containers flying.

With his focus now on the Hulk, the trapped heroes were able to fly towards the site of the battle against the green behemoth and the lord of gravity. Wasp giving Nero a helping hand by carrying him.

Between the two powerhouses, Hulk using his unrivaled strength and Graviton using his powers, the two collided in a fight that easily ranked as something truly out of a movie. Graviton was actually struggling to hold the Hulk back, the onslaught of the gamma-infused man was proving more of a challenge than he realized and was paying dearly by being sent across the shipping yard like a ball.

Getting distracted for a split second, Hulk punched Graviton into a crane, then proceeded to attempt and smash the gravity villain, destroying the crane in the process. Graviton tried raising his shield yet again to hold the Hulk off, but Hulk punched right through like it was brittle. The force sent him flying back, and Hulk leaping right after him, roaring at the top of his lungs.

"Holy shit," commented Nero as he watched the giant go to work, taking on Graviton single-handedly. Wasp set Nero down onto the ground while she hovered right next to him. She, Giant-Man, Thor, and Iron Man watched as the Hulk duked it out with the villain.

The teen would admit, he doubts he would last long against something this strong, despite taking blows from demons like Berial, Bael, the Savior, and many others just as powerful. Graviton, getting tired of being used like a rag doll, furiously unleashed his powers to the fullest to stop the Hulk in his tracks. The amount of force was enough to cause the ground around him to sink down.

Seeing this, the other heroes moved in, "Take him down!" Iron Man yelled to the others, as they charged towards the villain.

"Alright!" shouted Nero as he drew Red Queen and charged, keeping up with both Thor and Iron Man as they flew overhead while Wasp flew next to Giant Man

However that proved to be the wrong move, as with a wave of his hand, the gravity increased causing the other heroes and hunter to collapse on the ground pinned down by unimaginable amounts of pressure.

"Look at you fools!" Graviton taunted as he looked down at the fallen heroes, "I possess the power of the universe itself. I AM POWER!"

His eyes glowing with power and madness. The Lord of Gravity rose into the air and as he did, cargo crates, chunks of rock and other debris, began to flow around him like a tornado. The heroes tried to move, but the amount of gravity being forced upon them, kept them pinned.

Nero gritted his teeth as he tried to push himself to his feet, or at least to his hands and knees, but he couldn't get up.

"Can't... move...," strained Nero as he felt as though his entire body was being crushed into the ground, "Can... any of you?"

"Nay," responded Thor, "The others?"

The Norse God received no response since Iron Man, Giant-Man, and Wasp was pinned to the ground. Each trying their hardest to stand, but the pressure the villain was exerting was above anything they could deal with.

However, there was one hero that had the strength needed to combat Graviton. It is a known fact that the angrier Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets, and right now he was so mad, Graviton would have been safer on the moon, away from the Hulk. In the crater, the aforementioned gamma giant began to move, pushing his fists and legs underneath him, Hulk began to rise. His muscles bulged and strained themselves as he pushed them to their limits. The ground cracked and buckled under the pressure the gamma hero was putting out to even stand against the gravitational force from Graviton.

This action actually caught the attention of the scientist who noticed Hulk had actually made it far enough that he was standing at the edge of the crater. With a sneer, he sent even more pressure down onto the Hulk, causing the crater he was in to deepen. The initial attempt may have been effective for a second, but in a few seconds, Hulk was back to his feet, pushing up to bring the pain to Graviton. The anger, the rage, all of this was directed right at the man who was formerly known as Dr. Franklin Hall.

To say that the villain was shocked wouldn't even begin to describe the emotions that were running through the man. He couldn't understand: how was this possible?! Shock and confusion turned into blind rage as he sent even more power towards keeping Hulk pinned, anything within the crater was crushed into paper thin pieces, except he had one thing that the villain sorely lacked in spades: Anger.

The Hulk felt even more anger, and his strength increasing even more as he was back to his feet in a few seconds. Pushing his hands underneath him, Hulk pushed himself to his feet and began the incredible walk towards Graviton as the villain tried to stop him. He was focusing as much of his power as he could, trying to stop him, but the giant kept coming.

Graviton was absolutely stunned, right now, he was applying enough force to turn an entire city into a fine layer of rubble with the amount of pressure he is putting on the Hulk.

"Nothing is that powerful!" stammered Graviton as some sweat began to roll down his face, "I control gravity, itself!"

Despite that fact, the gamma giant still trudged on, each step making a small crater similar to when a person steps into the snow. So much gravitational force was being exerted that if it were applied to a city, it would've been flattened instantly. However, the Hulk was not a city, he was the strongest one there is.

Nero was completely shocked from what he was seeing. Here, a man who could control gravity, lift an entire city, was being beaten by the Hulk. And all that power was hardly phasing this guy. He honestly doubted that even Dante could stand up to this, even with his own crazy abilities.

However, Graviton finally got over his shock and bewilderment and gritted his teeth. He swung both his hands out, stretching them out as the gravitational tornado came to an abrupt halt. Every single crate and container that was caught within floated frozen in the air as Hall's eyes glowed brightly before he swung his arms forward. All the crates and containers flew right towards the Hulk.

Narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth, the Hulk got ready for the incoming objects by raising his fists. Using both his hands, the gamma giant punched the boxes and containers as they came, knocking them aside. However, it soon became too much as hundreds of metal containers and boxes were piled on top of the jade giant.

While the Hulk was being bombarded at the bottom of the crater, Nero gritted his teeth as he tried as hard as he could stand or at the very least move. However, he couldn't and it infuriated him to no end. Here was, completely powerless, unable to move while this guy, who had a God-like complex rained down hell. The hunter's eyes flashed red as energy began to flicker across his body.

Devil Bringer began to flash brightly, pulsing as his rage was building. He beat the Savior! He beat Sanctus! He made three devils turn tail and run! He took on the hordes of the Demon World! He made a promise! He made a promise to fight for others! To protect the innocent from the evils of demons!

He made a promise to _her!_

And he would sooner cut off his right arm and hand it over to the worst demon to come out of hell than break his promise!

"I...! WON'T...! _**BREAK...! MY...!**_ " growled Nero as his body inched up off the ground, azure energy dancing across his body while Devil Bringer shined and hummed brightly. His voice adopting a darker undertone, almost as if another being was speaking with him. The Hunter was soon on his feet, eyes glowing bright scarlet as energy flowed across his body and Devil Bringer glowed powerful, _**"PROMISE!"**_

With that yell, the teen's body erupted in a massive flash, catching the attention of Graviton who turned to look at the flash. It was the flash alone that caught his attention, but a dark aura that seemingly turned the entire area somewhat... colder. A massive cloud of dust had been kicked up before it rushed back to the floor due to the gravitational effects of his power, but when it did, Graviton's eyes widened as a feeling of fear washed over him.

Standing upright, Red Queen sheathed across his back, a silver katana in his right hand, was Nero. However, not him at the same time as this being who stood before the villain was not entirely alone. The boy's body was wreathed with azure energy, flickering like fire as Devil Bringer glowed brightly. But what had Hall's full attention was the creature floating behind him.

Behind Nero was a sort of ghost, almost a specter. It was translucent, glowing with an azure light similar to his arm, which was identical to its own right arm. The creature floated behind him at a height of seven feet, two large horns rose from its shoulders, the right being much larger than the left. Its skin appeared reptilian, small ram's horns rose from its head as its eyes glowed brightly. It's left arm had some sort of organic sheath attached to it.

"WHAT?!" shouted Graviton in shock, "I AM THE LORD OF GRAVITY ITSELF!"

 _ **"Shut up,"**_ snapped Nero, his voice grave as he swung Yamato at the man, the Specter mimicking his movements. From the sword, a wave of energy shot out and flew right towards Graviton. The villain hastily tried creating a shield, but the wave went right through it and exploded when it collided with him. The power of the slash was strong enough to send him flying into the air, shattering his concentration.

With his focus broken, the other heroes were able to get to their feet and take on the gravity villain. One especially that was trapped at the bottom of a crater, buried under hundreds of containers and debris. A powerful roar broke through the air as the pile of metal and rock erupted as the Hulk leaped right out and towards Graviton.

Hall was able to steady himself in the air from the force of the attack, his clothing scorched and burnt in a few places as he was still a little shocked that... whatever that boy was, was able to stand up to his power. Getting over his surprise had left him vulnerable to attack which the Hulk took full advantage of by tackling him out of the air and back to the Earth in a mighty impact that created a massive cloud of dust.

The cloud slowly disappeared, revealing Hulk was once again trying to break through Graviton's shield. That is until he got a sharp pain in the back of his neck, courtesy of several flying ants under the control of Ant-Man, who had shrunk after he was freed from Graviton's power, riding on one of the ants. This distraction allowed the Hulk to land several punches to the villain, sending him into the ground. The other heroes then surrounded Graviton, hoping to finally end this. However, that seemed to be an impossibility.

"This isn't possible!" Graviton exclaimed, as the released another wave of gravitational energy, sending the heroes and hunter flying and Hulk directly into the air.

The villain then took to the air once more, bringing numerous crates within the shipping yard with him as he used them as projectiles. Hurling them right towards the Hulk, Heroes, and hunter, trying to keep them off balance. It worked initially, however, Nero was able to deal with it just as easily.

 _ **"Alright, jackass,"**_ snarled Nero as he twirled Yamato around and locked his attention on Graviton, **_"Let's go!"_**

With that, the teen leaped right towards the villain. The containers coming at him traveled in slow motion for him as he leaped between container and container. His demonic heritage and Devil Trigger enhancing his speed, strength, durability, and reflexes. The hunter sliced through one container before he vaulted over another and used another as a springboard. However, a thought entered his mind.

Based on what he's seen so far, there wasn't much chance he had at beating this guy alone, and still cautious about some of the heroes here, he knew he needed their help. He was confident in his abilities, but he wasn't stupid. Glancing up, Nero saw that Graviton was focusing most of his attention on the Hulk. Given what was seen previously, it was obvious that Hall viewed the green giant as the biggest threat. Meaning if they were going to win, they needed him to get some good hits in.

He needed to act quickly, especially when Graviton started to send the crates in the Hulk's direction. Narrowing his eyes, the hunter turned to the others.

 _ **"Keep Beardsley's attention,"**_ shouted Nero, gaining the heroes' attention, _**"I'll get the big guy to help us."**_

With that, the heroes moved in. Iron Man and Wasp, blasting repulsors and stingers respectively, and Thor hurled Mjolnir directly at the Lord of Gravity. The combined attack was enough to distract Graviton and released his hold on the Hulk, the giant in question, then began to fall to the ground. But unfortunately, the crates were still on a collision course with the crates, which were still flying towards him.

Seeing this, Nero leaped into the air, using the crates and containers as footholds while they headed for the gamma brute. Leaping quickly, fast enough to cover the distance between them in the blink of an eye, the hunter was beside the Hulk just in time to use Yamato to slice a crate in half. He swung the legendary weapon at several others, sending arcs of azure waves at them, blowing the crates and containers to pieces. The Hulk looked at the demon-human with surprise and confusion.

Not because the teen had a glowing ghost with him, but because he was helping him. No one had ever helped Hulk.

"You…You're helping me?" said the Hulk in confusion.

 _ **"Duh,"**_ smirked Nero, the specter almost doing the same as the hunter looked at the gree bruiser, _**"You wanna kick this guy's teeth in, or am I going to have to do myself?"**_

Hulk only smirked as both he and Nero fell back down to the Earth. The Hulk let out a massive roar, bringing down both fists onto Graviton, sending the villain into the ground. A massive cloud of dust and rock erupted into the air when the impact happened.

However, that still wasn't enough to take him down, as Graviton used his powers to send a giant mass of earth against the Hulk, rising higher and higher. Wasp and Nero moved in next, the hunter using pieces of debris to vault towards the villain while Wasp flew in to zap whatever part she could. Nero flipped around, dismissing Yamato, but remained in his Devil Trigger and grabbed Hall with Spectral Bringer, drawing the villain towards him so that the hunter could smash his left fist into his stomach.

The Specter followed his movement, meaning two fists collided with Graviton. The impact sent him hurtling into the air. Iron Man flew overhead, who's chest light up before firing a massive Uni-Beam at Hall. Wasp grabbed Nero by his right hand and pulled him out of the way in time to avoid the beam as it sent Graviton into the ground. Contrary to what you might think, this didn't stop the gravity villain who moved the Earth in front of him to block the attack.

Nero landed on the ground and leaped at the villain as the beam stopped. Resummoning Yamato, he let out a powerful yell as he sliced the earth he used to block the beam in half, shattering it. Breaking through the stone, he pulled his left fist back and slugged him again, knocking Graviton back further. Leaping after him, Nero slashed at him, sending a powerful wave of energy at the villain which detonated on impact, creating a large cloud of smoke.

Graviton flew out the cloud and fell to the ground where he tumbled across but was getting back to his feet.

Meanwhile, Ant-Man flew of the ocean towards a cargo ship, which had been abandoned when Graviton began his attack, and leaped off his ant steed and dived into the water. A large flash of blue light appeared below the ship before Giant-Man lifted it out of the water. The giant hero then threw the ship towards Graviton.

The massive vessel crashed down onto the villain, exploding on impact, forcing Nero to shield himself with his arms, his coat flapping like a cape behind him as a massive explosion shook the ground. However, he still wasn't down. Through the debris, Graviton was back on his feet, though clearly exhausted. Taking the opportunity, Nero leaped into the air as high as he could. Yamato vanished in a flash of blue light as the hunter pulled his right hand back.

He let out a yell, Devil Bringer lighting up brightly. Behind him, the Specter mimicked his movements, except it was growing in size as energy flowing through its own right arm until it reached a size similar to Giant-Man. A powerful shout came from the hunter as he sent his fist right towards Graviton. The Specter doing the same as its giant fist slammed the man into the Earth, causing a massive shockwave.

This was enough to break Graviton's concentration, causing all the earth and rock to come back down where it belonged. However, it still wasn't enough to take down the man down. Nero was about to go in for another attack, however, the wind started to pick up. Looking up, the hunter saw Thor floating in the air, spinning his hammer by the straps, and the clouds gathering around him, thunder and lighting sounded and flowed into the hammer, as the Asgardian charged up his attack.

"FOR MIDGARD!" the Thunder God yelled, he then pointed his hammer down and unleashed the biggest bolt of lighting anyone had ever seen. It struck Graviton with thousands of volts of electricity; the Lord of Gravity gave out a scream of pain.

When the lightning subsided, Graviton was left at the base of a large crater looking very weak, the combined attacks from the heroes had left his body battered, bruised and now covered in soot. The barely conscious villain looked up to see the five heroes and hunter staring down at the villain.

"Who's strongest now?" the Hulk taunted.

"You had the power to do anything, and you used it to put millions of lives at risk," Giant-Man said before shrinking down to regular size.

"It's pathetic," said Nero as his Devil Trigger vanished, his voice returning to normal as the Specter disappeared along with Yamato.

"No kidding" Wasp added, as I final insult she fired one last stinger at Graviton, sending the defeated villain into unconsciousness.

The day was won.

The moment was the broken by Thor, "Come!" He exclaimed, with a huge grin, as he wrapped his arms around his new allies somehow managing to get the Hulk and Nero into his hug, "Let us celebrate!"

"Freeze." A familiar voice called out, the heroes looked to the other side of the crater, only to see Agent Coulson and an entire army of S.H.I.E.L.D agents, tanks and choppers, Coulson was holding a very large cannon and had it aimed at one particular individual.

"Step away from the Hulk," ordered the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Nero narrowed his eyes while the Hulk tensed and adopted a fighting stance. The green giant growling while the teen was considering raising his weapon. The guy just saved them all, so what was the problem? However, before either party could act. Iron Man suddenly stood in front of them, his arms stretched out, blocking the shot.

"You want him, you go through me," stated the billionaire with determination, "He saved us all. He's a hero. As sure as any of us are."

The other heroes then stood with the armored one, a determined look in all of their eyes. Nero raised an eyebrow but still, he stood with them. If only because he figured they'd have a better chance of winning.

Before he could process what is happening, another familiar voice spoke up.

"Stand down," Director Nick Fury commanded, the unites complied, "We've got bigger problems than the Hulk and a kid with a weird arm... although I want answers from that last one later."

"74 supervillains are now on the loose all across the country. Maybe the world by now."

"How did this happen, Fury?" Iron Man asked, with a bit of venom in his voice.

"I don't know, but we can find out together," The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. offered to the heroes, "Come work for me. As S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, you can make a real difference."

Before anyone could respond, Ant-Man spoke up, "No, this is your fault, isn't it? S.H.I.E.L.D created Graviton. Whatever you had Hall doing, it changed him. You kept it under wraps, and this happened."

The heroes then glared at the Director, especially Nero who folded his arms and glared at the man harder. Disliking S.H.I.E.L.D. more so now than before. Knowing that none of them would ever work for him who created somebody like Graviton.

However, everything was brought into question when Iron Man spoke up, "Fury's right," stated the billionaire genius. Earning looks of shock and a little annoyance from the heroes and Nero.

"What?" Wasp said, equally as shocked "You of all people are going to work for S.H.I.E.L.D?" she questioned the armored hero.

"No, he's right about us making a difference together," He began facing the heroes in front of him, "One-on-one we can each take down a villain or two, but 74 none of us can do it alone. Together we have a chance. What we did here, it can change things. The world needs us, but not as S.H.I.E.L.D agents. As a team on our own, together we can avenge the wrongs caused by all these villains."

"We can be Avengers," Wasp finished.

"Huh, good name," Hulk agreed.

Nero snorted as he thought about this, if he was being honest, it sounded pretty cheesy. Besides, it didn't seem like they needed him. These heroes seemed to know what they were doing, the green guy and the blond with the hammer, seemed to be powerhouses by themselves. If they wanted to be a team, they wouldn't need someone like him.

After Iron Man's speech, Nero turned on his heel and started to walk away from the group, not certain where he was going, but he figured he wasn't needed. Besides, he wasn't really a team player. But he didn't get very far before he was stopped by Wasp who flew right in front of him.

"Hey, Nero," said the brunette heroine, "You, just gonna walk out on your team?"

She flew around him, as he turned back to face the other heroes, who were all looking at him.

"Never really planned on being a hero, not that I ever was one," he stated in a bored tone, getting some confused expressions from those gathered.

"You seemed to be pretty good at it to me," Iron Man said.

"Indeed, you are," Thor added, "A mighty warrior if ever I have seen."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," drawled the teen in a sarcastic tone, "Besides, I'm not good with teamwork."

He then tried to walk away again, before Fury stood in front of him.

"Then maybe you should come with me," The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. asked, even though he didn't phrase it as a question, "We can't have someone like you wandering around our planet unsupervised. Especially one with the kind of power you have."

"You planning on babysitting me?" demanded the teen as he folded his arms and gave a hard look at Fury. But internally, Nero wasn't certain about what he would do. If he fought back, then these S.H.I.E.L.D guys would attack him, and maybe even the heroes as well. He looked back at the other heroes. They were all strangers to him, and yet they risked their lives for him and even stood up for him. He figured he at least owed them an explanation.

"But if you're looking for an explanation, fine, you got yourself one," stated the teen, giving in, "but you got a place without so many ears?"

He then gestured to the news reporters and civilians, which had gathered around the battle sight.

Nick Fury looked at him for a moment and then nodded. Nero rolled his eyes as he got ready to explain himself.

* * *

Watching the group from a safe distance was the same figure that had witnessed Nero charge right into the fray.

"Perhaps he does have what it takes," said the figure as his body glowed red before vanishing from sight.

 _ **To Be Continued...**_

* * *

 _ **And here we are, chapter 2. The Breakout rewrite. Minor changes as there was only so much I could reasonably change still be following the episode.**_


	3. Chapter 3 Some Assembly Required

_**Okay, chapter 3.**_

 _ **Now, to answer a few questions that were asked in the previous story before the rewrite:**_

 _ **xNightShroudx: Yes I do plan on the Avengers finding out later. It isn't part of Nero's character to reveal everything to complete strangers. If he did, he wouldn't be a good hunter, besides, it's out of character. But it will be made known later on.**_

 _ **rmarcano321: The reason I choose X-23, Psylocke, Ms. Marvel, Silver Sable, Enchantress, and Emma Frost is because they each connect with a part of his personality.**_

 _ **X-23 is underrated and there are some similarities between her and Nero.**_

 _ **For Psylocke, I chose her because she is fun, flirtatious, teasing, and generally very fun to be around, which would pair nicely with him.**_

 _ **Ms. Marvel is the textbook girl, but has a good heart, defends her friends, honest, and true, which are some characteristics Kyrie had.**_

 _ **Silver Sable is a Princess but is also a highly trained one as well, and I think it would be fitting somewhat, like the not-so-distressed-princess and the not-so-holy-knight-in-shining-armor.**_

 _ **As for Enchantress, it can easily be assumed that she would develop an interest in someone of Sparda's blood as he is extremely powerful and Nero is no pushover either.**_

 _ **And for Emma Frost, uh, just a random option I came up with.**_

 _ **darthwolf: I do plan on giving Nero a villain, but just not certain who would work. Taskmaster comes to mind but he's used in Avenging10 so no go there. Got flak from him about how similar Avengers: Prime was to his story, and he was right, it was very similar to his to the point it was almost copied and pasted with some minor changes here and there.**_

 _ **Red Raven 007: The reason Nero didn't just outright use Yamato is that he hasn't fully mastered it yet. I think I sent you a PM explaining more.**_

 _ **And answering some more recent reviews**_

 _ **To**_ ** _Logic Soldier and Red Raven 007: I hear ya. I won't use the wiki as I do agree that it can be pretty inaccurate at times. But there is still the problem on how to gauge Nero's upper limits. But if you know of a site where I can get specs and facts about Nero that can be taken seriously, let me know, I would really appreciate the help._**

 ** _If anyone has an idea, leave a comment or send me a message._**

 ** _Also, the poll results are in, and Psylocke is favored by the majority. Thank you all for voting for her as she was my favorite and I think Psylocke deserves a little more love then what she was getting currently._**

 ** _But I'm willing to give her a shot. Don't really know how I would introduce her and give her a reason for Laura to hang out with Nero, but I'll think of something. I might have to introduce the X-Men first before I do either Betsy or Laura._**

 ** _Another thing I would like to make the mention that I plan to give Nero some wrestling moves, some of which might be in the game of Devil May Cry 5. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch as Devil Bringer lets him do some pretty physical attacks so don't act surprised when I have moves like the Powerbomb, Neckbreaker, Chokeslam, Suplex and other moves that would not be permitted in regular wrestling._**

 _ **Okay, onto the story.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing, Capcom owns Devil May Cry and Marvel owns Avengers: EMH.**_

* * *

 _ **Avengers May Cry**_

 _ **Chapter 3: Some Assembly Required**_

 _ **Manhattan, New York**_

In Manhattan, people walked around the city doing their usual routines under the midday sun, but some citizens gave some wary looks as they passed a specific group of people.

A young woman of a standard build, with red hair, green eyes, wearing a dress jacket, plain shirt, gray skirt, and high heels. She was Pepper Potts, assistant to Tony Stark as well as a friend. In her hands was a Stark Data Pad which she used to schedule Tony's appointments, though some may ask why she bothers to considering Tony almost always misses a meeting.

On her left was a giant green muscular man, wearing torn purple pants. The Jolly Green Giant (Though you should never call him that if you want to avoid getting smashed) was known as the Hulk: The Strongest One There is, as he claims.

On Pepper's right was a young teen, who looked like he belonged at a convention due to his attire. He was wearing a blue coat with a red interior, a sleeveless red hoodie, and underneath a black muscle shirt. He was also wearing blue jeans, tucked into brown boots. The sleeves of his coat were rolled up, the right being rolled up further to accommodate for the demonic appendage that was the right limb. He had a brown bracelet wrapped around his left wrist while two silver rings were on his pointer and pinkie. The teen had platinum blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He also had a giant red sword strapped to his back, which added to the whole convention thing.

His arms were folded as he leaned against a fence where he, Ms. Potts, and the Hulk waited. Normally, Nero would have his right arm in a cast to conceal Devil Bringer, but true to his prediction about a week ago, he was on the front page of the newspaper with Devil Bringer out in the open. So he figured he wouldn't bother trying to conceal his arm now that everyone knew about it.

The three were standing in front of a steel gate, leading to a large mansion. Tony, aka Iron Man, asked the newly formed Avengers to meet him up in front of the mansion for some sort of meeting. At the moment, Nero and Hulk were the only ones on time, the others no doubt had some other matters to deal with and were running late. They should probably pick up the pace in order to avoid Hulk's frustration as he was getting impatient.

Looking at her wristwatch, Pepper checked to see the time before huffing in annoyance. She then looked over at Hulk and Nero, "Thank you two for actually being on time, unlike the others," said the assistant with a mix of gratitude and annoyance, likely saved for Tony since he is almost always late for a meeting or misses it entirely.

"If I was like myself when I was younger, I'd be the last one here," shrugged Nero as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "still surprised I'm early considering I don't even have a watch."

Hulk only grunted as his response, getting a grim expression as he waited for the others to arrive. But they better hurry up, he wasn't very patient.

As the group waited, the demon hunter began to recall the events that happened in the week prior to joining the Avengers. Safe to say, that the team was pretty diverse so far. It went without saying, the team has been working together for the first time, even taking down a villain by the name of Mandrill. Apparently, he was a baboon-like villain who could hypnotize and produce pheromones. While he was confident he could take on Iron Man and Wasp, but he quickly lost all form of confidence when the other Avengers arrived along with Nero, who had Red Queen resting on his shoulder. While the fight was a let down in his opinion, he had nothing to really complain about as there were many more villains to go.

About 72 to be precise

"Never said it was going to be easy," muttered the hunter to himself. Just like it wasn't easy explaining who he was without revealing he was from another plane of existence and was part demon.

* * *

 _*Flashback*_

 _Shortly after the battle, S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken Graviton into custody and started working on figuring out how to get the Helicarrier out of the bay. However, what was the main focus was the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the newly formed group of heroes, the Avengers, had retreated to Stark Tower to speak with one person in particular. There, Nero learned that unlike comic books in his universe where heroes had secret identities, here it was common knowledge about which hero was who._

 _Ant-Man or Giant-Man, depending on his size was a scientist by the name of Hank Pym. Wasp was his assistant who's real name was Janet Van Dyne (however, Nero could clearly see that they had a thing for each other). Hulk was actually a scientist by the name of Bruce Banner who had a sort of split personality disorder, similar to doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Thor as it turned out, was the literal Thor from Norse Mythology, much to Nero's surprise and some interest. And lastly was Iron Man, which everyone knew as Tony Stark: billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist, and the owner of the building they stood in._

 _The Avengers and Fury were situated in Stark's private office that overlooked the entire city. There, Nero stood before them, his thumbs hooked into his pockets as the heroes and director wait for his explanation. The heroes, still in costume (Hank and Tony having removed their helmet and mask respectively) waited for the teen to explain who he was, but the hunter wasn't so certain about everything. If he revealed that demons were actually real, he'd be painting some pretty big targets on their backs. Not to mention, even if he didn't tell them, joining them could still put them in danger, however, they had all risked their lives for him during the fight with Graviton, they deserved at least to know who he was, but where he comes from and his heritage as a demon was off-limits._

 _Nick Fury was the first to talk, "So why don't you tell us exactly who you are."_

 _"Right, right," shrugged Nero as he brought his left hand to his nose and scratched it a bit as he thought about where he was going to start, "Well, where do I start."_

 _"Who you are could be good," offered Jan kindly._

 _"Right, well, obviously, you know my name; Nero," said the hunter as gave a slight nod, letting out a sigh as he figured he'd just tell them and get it over with. If they believed him or not was on them, "And I'm a Demon Hunter."_

 _There were varying levels of surprise and some intrigue from those gathered, even Fury, who despite his usual cold and collected self, raised an eyebrow at that revelation._

 _"A demon hunter?" asked Fury, clearly not believing him, not that Nero cared._

 _"Yeah."_

 _"How long have you been one?" asked Ant-Man._

 _"I started out being a hunter when I was sixteen, about two years ago," answered the teen._

 _That caught their attention._

 _"Since you were sixteen," repeated Fury, not believing the teen one bit. One thing about running an international peacekeeping organization is keeping tabs on any potential threats. This included every metahuman on the planet, hero and villain alike, and S.H.I.E.L.D didn't have anything remotely resembling this boy, so that made the S.H.I.E.L.D Director suspicious of the person in front of him. He would prefer to have him in a secure location so he could be restrained and properly interrogated, but it seemed that he had the support of the other heroes._

 _"How come we've never heard of you?" asked Jan._

 _"If you haven't heard of me, then that means I'm doing my job right," replied Nero vaguely._ _as he strolled to right a little and glanced down at Devil Bringer._

 _That really drew the attention of everyone in the room. The hunter decided to add more fuel to the fire._

 _"Reason being, demons tend to be the worst of the worst," elaborated the teen as he looked back at the heroes, "They don't care about anything, they disregard consequences, and they kill because it's fun for them. Better for everyone to view demons as just stories then cause panic."_

 _"But how have you evaded S.H.I.E.L.D. for so long?" demanded Fury as he wanted to know how this slipped under the radar, his attention then fell to Nero's right arm, "And would mind explaining your right hand?"_

 _"Like any criminal or organization, just pay off the right people, make a few calls, and somethings look like an accident," answered Nero grimly as he glanced at the director with a neutral expression, he then grasped Devil Bringer with his left hand, "And as for the arm, well, let's just say I took a pretty bad hit one job from a demon. Don't know what happened by my arm just healed like this."_

 _Fury held his gaze as the teen continued, "Also, haven't really stuck in one place for long. So not enough time for people to get all the details about me."_

 _"You isolate yourself to fight these demons for the sake of all," surmised Thor, "Very honorable."_

 _"Honor's got nothing to do with it," countered hunter as he sat down in a chair, "just the only thing I've been good at."_

 _"What are you doing here then?" asked Tony, curious about what brought the kid to the city that never sleeps._

 _"Didn't plan on coming here," answered Nero as he stood up and folded his arms, "Was working on a job elsewhere when I got blindsided by a demon. Opened a portal that sent me here. Willing to bet that wasn't what that demon had in mind."_

 _Nick Fury, then pulled out a phone, hit a couple of keys then pushed it across the table to the hunter, "Then I guess this is yours then," was all the man said._

 _The teen dropped his arms as he stepped towards the table glanced down at the screen. When he did, his eyes widened slightly from what he saw on the device. It was a Plymouth roadrunner being loaded into some sort of S.H.I.E.L.D. transport._

 _"That's my car," stated the hunter in disbelief, "Where'd you find it?"_

 _"Our sensors picked up two energy spikes in the city, one was in an alleyway, the other was in a car park," answered Fury, "We'll have it shipped to you once we've finished inspecting it."_

 _"Somehow, I feel that's more so you can bug it," retorted the teen dryly as he glanced at the Director. Fury didn't dignify that with an answer, however, it seemed he wouldn't need to as Hank cut in._

 _"Where do you live, Nero?" asked the scientist._

 _"As I said before, never stayed in one place long and always traveled light," Nero shrugged as he folded his arms._

 _"You don't have a home?" Jan spoke up, looking a little surprised._

 _"Harder to track for reporters and demons," elaborated the teen._

 _"Any family?"_

 _"Got an uncle, but no clue where he is."_

 _The heroes all looked at each other, the only one who really knew what it was like to have nothing was the Hulk, who was actually feeling a sort of kinship towards the young hunter, especially if he was avoiding S.H.I.E.L.D like he was._

 _Before Fury could question him more, Wasp spoke up, "Well don't worry. Now that you're with the Avengers you can just stay with us," she gave Nero a bright smile. However, the hunter didn't share the same levity as his expression darkened._

 _"Yeah, I'm not really with you," stated Nero as he folded his arms, "Only reason I helped was that I didn't want anyone to die. But now that the problem is done-."_

 _"This crisis is far from over," interrupted Thor, giving Nero a hard look. They were far from done as many villains had escaped._

 _"Thor's right, there's still 74 villains out there," agreed Iron Man, sharing a similar look of seriousness, "And it took all of us to take down Graviton."_

 _"Think you could've done it without me," retorted the teen as he tried to find a reason to not do this._

 _"Maybe," nodded Tony after a moment of thought before continuing, looking Nero right in the eyes as he stood up from his desk and walked around it stand in front of, "but it would have taken a lot longer and probably half the city could have been torn down before we took him down."_

 _"Face it, kid," stated the inventor giving Nero a hard look, "we need you."_

 _Nero sighed as he shook his head, "Trust me, you don't want me on a team."_

 _"I don't get it," interjected Wasp, giving the teen a confused look, "Why don't you want to be a part of the team or even a hero?"_

 _"I was never a hero and I've never been good at teamwork growing up," repeated the hunter as he sighed, "besides, being around a demon hunter is dangerous."_

 _Almost everyone present looked confused at this statement. Thor, however, thanks to his centuries worth of experience, saw something in the young man's eyes: pain. The Asgardian had seen that haunted look many times in the battles he had fought before. The pain of losing something truly important. what had this boy seen that could have given him this feeling?_

 _"Being a demon hunter is a seldom career," sighed the hunter as he gripped the wrist of Devil Bringer, "Demons are relentless, petty, cruel, and will use whatever tactic they can to make you suffer. Even going after people around the hunter. People that mean something to him or her."_

 _He steeled himself, trying to keep his hand from drifting to the necklace that hung from his neck, "Trust me, none of you are ready to deal with what these things are capable of."_

 _The heroes all looked at Nero with sympathy and a tad of honor. He was basically denying himself to be apart of the team to keep them safe. He didn't want them to go through what he likely experienced. Some of them have seen death before, but the way he spoke, it was likely that none of them would ever experience the same level of pain. However, Thor might, as he had lost family the same. Something told him that a similar event happened to Nero._

 _"Besides, I barely know you people," continued the hunter, as his expression hardened, "If I trusted everything at face value, a demon would've killed me already."_

 _"Then I suggest you come with me," Nick Fury said, as he got up from his seat and walked up to the teen, "We can't risk the possible coming of demons to this world. And if you have any information about them, then I suggest you tell me. So until further notice, I'm gonna place you in SHIELD custody and-"_

 _"And then what?" demanded Ant-man, interrupting the super spy, glaring at the man, "You're gonna turn him into one of your stone-cold agents, or just find everything you need from him than just dump him when you don't need him anymore?"_

 _Nero growled as he tightened Devil Bringer into a fist. He wasn't anyone's attack dog, not since Fortuna, the Order of the Sword, and Sanctus. He was his own person and he made his own decisions. If someone had an issue with him, they could say it to his face. But he wouldn't become another pawn, not after what happened last time._

 _"The power he has," started the Director, staring hard at the heroes gathered in the office, however, spared a quick glance at Nero's right arm, "It has to be kept safe. Not to mention if he has knowledge that could save lives, he has to tell me. Which is why he's coming with me."_

 _Fury stepped towards Nero once more, the hunter reached for Blue Rose, his hand coming to rest on the grip. He wasn't going to be pushed into this. If this guy wanted to take him by force, then he'd better be ready to drag him kicking and screaming. However, just before the hunter could draw the firearm, a large green figure stood in front of the teen, towering over the S.H.I.E.L.D Director. Fury looked up to see the Hulk glaring down at him._

 _"Not gonna happen," he snarled at Fury. Nick Fury then began to reach for his gun, but then Thor stood beside the Hulk, Mjolnir gripped firmly in his hand._

 _"T'would be wise to listen to the beast," Thor added, giving Fury his own glare. Soon the other heroes joined them, Jan probably giving the man the worst one. The action caused Nero to look at them with some surprise as he didn't expect this at all. The acts of kindness... they were foreign to him._

 _"They're right, Fury," stated Iron Man, speaking on behalf of his team, "Nero's with us. You're not taking him anywhere."_

 _"He literally gave up everything to keep people safe!" added Wasp, rather angrily to mention as well, "He risks his life with no credit whatsoever! Despite all that, you're gonna just ship him off to some facility like an animal?! Not gonna happen!"_

 _Nero felt his left-hand slip from Blue Rose while Devil Bringer loosened his grip as he resumed his passive expression. However, he was internally really surprised by this. They literally just met him like half an hour ago, and they were treating him as if they were friends for years. It made the hunter think; Fury held his position for a moment; the Avengers kept glaring at the Director, Hulk almost daring him to give him a reason to smash him. He then decided that fighting a group of superheroes would be bad for his health so he put his gun away._

 _"I'll give you 24 hours for you to decide what you're going to do," he said to Nero, the hunter narrowing his blue eyes at the director, "after that…" he let the threat hang._

 _"May the best man win," returned the teen, his tone stone cold as he met Fury's stare with his own._

 _Both hunter and director held their glare for a second. Daring the other to blink first. It seemed like Nero was the one to give, but Fury backed off at the last second. He sighed as he then turned around and left the room. The heroes then relaxed and faced each other. Nero sighed as he glanced down at Devil Bringer, mentally cursing the demonic limb._

 _*End Flashback*_

* * *

He wouldn't lie and say the decision was easy for him to make. But at the moment that didn't matter. Aside from superheroing, Nero's actually been getting to know the world a little better. However, one change that happened was that he moved into Janet's apartment, mainly to get away from Thor and Hulk. Reason being the two would regularly butt heads, and Nero figured he wouldn't really have a good word to say to stop the two from fighting. However, a fight had yet to break out surprisingly.

Also, when he wasn't on the team, and the heroes had time to relax, Nero had actually been getting to know the others pretty well. The hunter didn't really talk much about his home, as he still didn't fully trust them, but was warming up. Albeit slowly, but he would get there. He did share stories about some demons he fought, but things like his own nature as being part demon, Sparda, Fortuna, and Yamato were off the table. Not just because he didn't fully trust them, but because S.H.I.E.L.D. might be listening.

Nero had also gotten to know the others a bit better.

To start with was Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, and self-appointed leader of the Avengers. At first, Nick had his doubts about Stark leading the team, being a billionaire, playboy with an ego bigger than the Savior, that and Tony did not really seem like the hero type at first glance. However, after reading Tony's file, Nero could see why he chose to become a hero. Apparently, Stark Industries used to develop weapons for the military, weapons far more powerful and advanced than most weapons, leading to a test in the Middle East.

There, Tony was attacked and held hostage and prisoner by a group of terrorists who possessed and used his own weapons against him. The group wanted Tony to build new weapons for them so that they may overthrow the local military. However, in the initial attack prior to his capture, Tony took a chest full of shrapnel incredibly close to his heart. In order to keep him alive, the terrorists placed an electromagnet within Tony's chest to keep the shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him. A few months of imprisonment, Tony was able to create a miniaturized version of a self-sufficient reactor called an Arc Reactor to power his heart and keep the shrapnel from killing him. With a new drive, Tony built a suit of armor from the parts he was given by the terrorists to create the prototype of his Iron Man suit. Using his new suit, Tony escaped, and since that day, he has devoted himself to destroying the weapons he created and completely stopped all production of Stark Weapons. Something that Nero respected, though would never say it to his face.

Next in line was Ant-Man and Wasp, the former Nero figured would be better placed in a lab, or anywhere besides someplace violent, or even the hero work. Henry Pym, or Hank as he was called by everyone, was a scientist. A Genius, yes, but also a general absent-minded doctor and pacifist, who would rather use communication and rehabilitation to deal with villains, not the normal find them, fight them, arrest them, and figure the rest out later shtick. During his studies, Pym discovered a series of unstable particles, which he named Pym Particles. The particles have the ability to rapidly enlarge and shrink an object exposed to the particles. While shrunk down to the size of an inch, Hank was able to develop a specialized helmet that allowed him to communicate and control ants and other insects.

Nero didn't think on it for very long that Hank was cut out for this, which annoyed the hunter to a degree; mainly for the mans' strong resentment to any form of violence plus his need to try and find other ways to help the villains. Commendable, true, but that can be done after villains have been arrested or taken down. Besides, it's not easy to help someone who doesn't want to be helped. While it might be his own opinion, or that Nero just isn't fond of the whole pacifist thing, the teen could see the only reason he went along with this was that of Jan.

Speaking of which, Wasp was known as Janet Van Dyne. Despite his own anti-social nature, Nero couldn't help but crack a smile when he was around her. Not to mention, even though he could be a little dense at times, the hunter could see there was something going on between the two. Jan was without a doubt the nicest person on the team; a constant source of optimism and kindness, which Nero actually enjoyed as it reminded him of someone he once knew. So, it was a little rough at first, but the hunter would agree that they were friends, even after a week.

Sometimes, after missions, Nero would agree to hang out with Jan, do some shopping, even just chat at times. The hunter found it refreshing to just talk to someone, even though at times it was a little one-sided, however, Jan didn't seem to mind. Also, it was worth noting that when they were talking about a place to stay, Jan offered her apartment, to which Nero tried to wave off and say he was fine where he was, but caved in quickly when she pouted in a way that made Patty look mature. So the hunter stayed with Jan until they found a place of his own.

It should also be worth noting that Janet Van Dyne is also Hank's business partner and a fashion designer, which would explain the trying on countless combinations of different clothing she and Nero were buying new clothes for him since he had only the clothes on his back when he arrived. Janet's powers originated from the Pym Particles, giving her the ability to shrink her size at will, grow insect wings, and shoot bio stingers from her hands. From what Nero could tell, she was a hero basically for the thrill of it. Something Nero was okay with but could get a little annoyed at times, but mostly enjoyed Wasp's attitude.

Next up was Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. Turns out he really was the god, which made the hunter wonder if there was actually a God. Anyway, despite the man's medieval personality and mannerisms, Nero found the thunderer somewhat likable. However, it should also be noted that Thor was actually from an alternate dimension, a realm as Thor would refer to it as, named Asgard. Living with his father, Odin and adopted half-brother, Loki, Thor was surprisingly headstrong (more than now) and cocky as a child. Later when he was older, Thor went to another one of the nine realms, Jotunheim, home of the Frost Giants, against his father's wishes.

As punishment, Thor was stripped of his godly powers and banished to Earth, specifically New Mexico. Without his powers, Thor had to learn how to respect other beings in the world, however, Loki was revealed to be jealous and attempted to overthrow Asgard. Thor was able to regain his powers after being reunited with Mjolnir and return to Asgard to defeat his stepbrother. Since then, he and Loki have been fighting ever since, but also, Thor had come to consider Earth as a second home and swore to protect the world. This bit of information made Nero somewhat wary that if Thor was from another plane of existence, could that mean he heard of Sparda? Also, was there a means of getting back home?

Moving along, there was only one last member of the team, and that was the Hulk. Initially, the Green Giant and the Hunter couldn't really get along, however, put their differences aside and the teen was soon the only person whom the Jade Giant didn't threaten to smash regularly. The two got along okay, but there was still a little tension, however, Nero could see that they were alike in some ways, mainly figuring things out later after trashing them.

From what Nero's found out about the gamma bruiser, Hulk was formerly known as Bruce Banner, leading expert in Gamma Radiation. While working for the military to attempt and recreate the formula for the _'Super-Soldier Serum'_ for General Ross. During the creation, Banner was so convinced that the experiment would work that he performed it on himself; the result was the creation of the Hulk. Everyone thought the Hulk was a mindless animal, but apparently, Bruce Banner can turn into the Hulk when he gets angry, and the Hulk is rage given form. The military has been trying to capture the Hulk so that they may use him as a weapon, but after Harlem, New York, Bruce discovered a way to communicate with the Hulk and influence him into becoming a hero in an attempt to show the world the Hulk is not a monster. Clearly, that was still a work in progress as shown during the aftermath of the Graviton incident.

It was safe to say that the Avengers were a bunch of mismatched heroes, some being a little unstable, but it could be worse. Besides, Nero figured if things went sideways, he could probably start his own business similar to how Dante did a few years back. But it seemed like the teen wouldn't have to as the heroes started arriving.

Noticing a shadow approaching, Nero glanced up to see Thor flying in towards them. Using his hammer to slow his momentum until he landed on the sidewalk beside the Hulk. On his face was a wide grin as he greeted his team.

"Ho Miss Potts, Hulk, and Nero," said the prince, greeting the three, "'Tis good to see you again. Are you ready for the coming battles?"

Hulk raised an eyebrow before scowling slightly, "You ready to get a watch?"

"Gotta agree with Hulk," added Nero, giving Thor his own annoyed look, "been standing here for almost an hour. What took you so long?"

Before the Odinson could answer, two more of their teammates arrived, "We're here!" announced Wasp as she flew to the center of the group before hovering at eye level.

"Sorry we're late," she apologized, "I had to tear hank away from his lab."

"It was an important experiment," defended Ant-Man who appeared beside her, growing to full size. His method of transport was the form of a small ant that flew away as the scientist removed his helmet.

"Friend Pym, I did not see you there," said Thor in a somewhat surprised tone, "I had expected you to be giant."

"Really?" asked the scientist, turning to the former Norse myth with a confused expression, "Why?"

"Thy giant self seems more useful," elaborated the prince. If he was being honest, he couldn't really see the use of a size so small when many of their foes were so large. It only seemed natural to be larger than them in order to defeat these villains and return them to justice.

"Wouldn't really be a good idea in the city," commented Nero, figuring that Hank used his small form in order to get to their meeting place without drawing too much attention or breaking the sidewalk in the process. Last thing they need is property damages and S.H.I.E.L.D. coming after them more than they are now.

However, the moment was interrupted by Hulk who finally snapped, "Where's Stark?!" burst out the gamma hero as he stopped drumming his fingers along his bicep impatiently.

"Sorry. Sorry, everyone," Iron Mans' voice rang out above them showing the armored hero hovering down to the ground before landing near the group as he took off his helmet, "I got caught up in a meeting,"

His attempt to excuse himself proved pointless as he received a look from Pepper who knew he was lying, "Yeah, I missed that one too." admitted Tony sheepishly before turning to the Avengers, "Anyway, thank you all for coming and welcome to Avengers' Mansion."

To indicate what he was talking about, the billionaire gestured to the massive building behind them. It was an old Victorian-style building, with a large, red brick wall, with marble thrown in and a large iron gate. On that gate was the letter A, which Nero thought was convenient. The building itself rose about three stories with a huge yard. Internally, Nero was smirking widely at the reaction Dante would have if he saw this place.

"This was my-," Iron Man began to explain, but Hulk was done standing around and smashed the gate open, breaking the steel gates right off with a distinct clang before walking towards the mansion.

"You know that was really rude," commented Tony as he looked at the broken gates with a startled expression.

"That's what you get for being late," jabbed Nero, as he unfolded his arms and walked passed the inventor, however, turned on his heel to thrown in a little joke, "Besides, what'd you expect from making the Hulk wait so long?"

Tony scowled lightly, however, couldn't suppress the smirk of his from forming. Jan giggled as she followed Nero and Hulk into the massive building. In all honesty, it seemed a little surreal to her. She was soon followed by Thor, before Pepper, Hank, and Tony joined them for the tour of the mansion.

* * *

Inside the mansion, Pepper and the Avengers stood inside the homes giant main hallway with white marble columns and a grand staircase that lead up to the other floors of the mansion. Nero was internally ecstatic, mainly thinking one simple thing; _'Dante, eat your heart out,'_ was all the teen could think as a smirk was plastered on his face. He was so glad he told S.H.I.E.L.D. to fuck off because this was way better than some plain one-roomed dorm.

While the heroes and hunter were looking around the hallways, Thor's attention was on some sort of terminal or panel built into the wall. However, the prince was caught by surprise when the wall started talking.

 _"Greetings Thor Odinson,"_ The sudden British voice from the terminal as the optical sensor flashed while it spoke caused Thor to reel back in surprise, _"May I offer you a drink?"_

Thor turned to Tony with a look of surprise, "What manner of palace is this?" he asked the inventor, a little unnerved that the walls could talk.

"This was a museum for the Maria Stark Foundation, my mother's home," explained the armored hero, "I've had it upgraded since the breakout. I thought this could be our headquarters."

"Swanky," commented Wasp as she flew up in the air to get a better view of the hallway. Nero only snorted as he folded his arms.

"We're playing superheroes at your mom's place," stated Nero, though his tone was sarcastic, "Seems like we're all kids again."

Tony chuckled, as did Pepper, while Jan just giggled.

"Anyway, the mansion is run by J.A.R.V.I.S.," picked up the billionaire, gesturing to the terminal in the wall that had Thor's attention prior, "my personal artificial intelligence. Anything you need, J.A.R.V.I.S. will provide. Say 'hi', J.A.R.V.I.S."

 _"Indeed,"_ responded the A.I. as the optic lit up again.

A minute later, Tony began the tour of the mansion, explaining all the details of the house and what each room was and what you could do in them. Their first stop was the kitchen.

"We've got a full kitchen, Chef on call," explained Tony. Wasp flew to Hulk who was at the fridge and landed on his shoulder. There she had a front-row seat to Hulk helping himself to the food inside. Wasp grimaced in disgust when Hulk let out a large belch, however her expression only caused Nero to snicker every so quietly.

The tour then took a turn to go upstairs where the bedrooms were located.

"There are twelve rooms, maid service, laundry, room service, theater and lounge, satellite TV and movies; every form of entertainment on the planet," explained Tony as he turned to Nero for a moment before leaning in to whisper to him to make sure Janet wouldn't here, "I thought this would be a better place to live for you, Hulk, and Thor. The tower doesn't exactly have a homey feel for Thor or Hulk, and Janet can be a handful."

"Won't hear any complaints from me," replied the teen as he nodded, "She wears you out faster than you think."

Internally, he was thanking Tony as he said, Jan can wear a person out pretty quick. However, it went without saying that he was really surprised by all the work the billionaire put into this place. Also, he was surprised that he also made living accommodations for them. Obviously, Nero couldn't live with Jan forever, and the teen would be lying if said that in the event Dante does come to this world, Nero would want to rub it in his face that he was living in a massive mansion while the older hunter was still living in the run-down building of Devil May Cry. Also, the mansion had a homelike feeling, despite its massive size, so Nero doubted he would mind.

The Avengers then made their way into what appeared to be the main lounge area. With a large couch and a fireplace. Janet and Nero both sat on the couch; the heroine grabbed a remote and pushed a button. A painting that was on top of the fireplace slid up revealing a 90-inch plasma screen TV, Jan grinned wildly at this while Nero smirked and kicked back, resting his boots on the coffee table.

"Are you serious Stark?" asked Hank as he looked around, "This is what you spent a week preparing?"

"Uh, no, I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet. You're going to need one of these," answered Tony as he reached into his pocket to pull out a handful of cards. Roughly the size of a credit card with a large light blue A on the lift side and in the right corner was a black screen with an image of each Avenger in it, "These ID cards are linked to the entire Stark Satellite Network and will keep us in audio and video communication anywhere in the world. They also give you full access and control of the mansion."

"Was hoping it would get me free coffee or lunch someplace," joked Nero as he took a card from pepper and turned it over with Devil Bringer. He wouldn't be lying if he said that it wasn't cool, "But in all seriousness, I gotta say, you don't disappoint."

Stark smirked at the compliment as Nero tucked the card into his inside pocket. Soon, each Avenger was checking out their card, Jan giddily looking it over while Hank had an indifferent expression while he was inspecting his. Thor repeatedly turned the card over, intrigued by such a small object, though was certainly impressed by mortal technology. The teen then glanced to Pepper who just gave the Hulk his card, however, somewhat hesitantly.

"I can show you how it-," began Pepper, but was cut off by Hulk.

"You think I can't figure it out?" snapped the jade giant as he took the card from Pepper. The assistant shrunk back as she looked a little worried.

"I'm sure you can," replied Pepper as she held her hands in a placating gesture.

Nero sighed, knowing the feeling of being disliked all too well, not mention singled out for most of his childhood. While he might not understand what it's like to be hated and hunted down like an animal for as long as the Hulk, but even he could tell that the big guy was so used to that treatment, kindness was extremely foreign to him. The teen wasn't much of a team player, but he figured that hanging around these guys long enough might do some good.

Thor, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at the treatment of Pepper Hulk was giving and marched right up to the jade giant, "T'would be wise to treat the lady with respect."

"Which lady do you mean, blondie?" shot back Hulk as the two bruisers began to stare each other down, daring the other to blink. The tension getting thicker by the second.

"Not sure about you guys, but I'd like to find out what else Stark's got in store," cut in Nero, drawing their attention as he jerked his head to the inventor, "I doubt this is all he's got."

Tony nodded and walked to a terminal that was in the room. Holding it up, the device beeped and was followed by the sound of gears moving. soon the fireplace began to rise up, revealing a hidden elevator passage

Eye's lighting up with interest, Janet shrunk down and flew towards the elevator, "Nifty."

* * *

Filling the spacious elevator, the team began to descend into the Earth. After a moment, the elevator shaft disappeared, revealing a massive underground chamber, at the center, was some sort of large pyramid-like structure comprised of some black glass-like substance.

"And voilà, the sublevels," presented Tony as the elevator continued to descend.

Once the elevator arrived at its destination, the Avengers all left the machine and walked into a huge open area with ridiculous amounts of technology placed around the area. All-in-all, it looked like something out of a sci-fi movie or tv show.

Continuing the tour, Tony explained the area to the present heroes, "The mansions' got a beyond state of the art lab, space for Hank's modular lab, as well as an armory."

Looking around the area, Hank stopped for a moment to look at all the tech, slightly giddy to working with such sophisticated technology. But if Hank was one thing, it was one of the few people who thought the Avengers wouldn't work as a team. You can't just bring people together and say they're a team, a team needs to earn trust, and for a bunch of strangers who formed over a week ago, trust was going to take time.

Continuing on towards another room, the Avengers came across a massive body of water contained in a large pool. The room was surrounded by glass walls a large roof above. At first glance, a person would think this is a pool.

"Wow, big pool," commented Wasp when she saw it.

"Pretty sure the pool's someplace else," countered Nero as he folded his arms.

"And you'd be right, the pool's actually on the roof," confirmed Tony as the sound of mechanical movement followed his sentence. The water suddenly split apart, revealing a hidden area underneath. From the open area came a large, highly advanced aircraft, painted mostly red and white with the red Avengers A on the front left and right side of the nose.

"This is a fully functional hangar with two prototype high-speed aerial shuttles. The Quinjets," As Tony explained the aircraft, several hatches opened up, revealing an array of weapons while a force field appeared around the jet, "Weapons, shields, and an airspeed of Mach 8 for those of us who can't fly."

Soon Ant-Man and Hulk looked at Tony glaring at the inventor, "But they can also go into space," added Tony quickly after seeing the glares from both people.

"Now that's sick," stated Nero, chuckling as he glanced at Tony.

Said inventor laughed before he gestured for the other's to follow, "There is also a training room," informed the billionaire as he led the heroes and hunter. Nero raised an eyebrow while Wasp gave a curious look.

"What, like a gym?" inquired the heroine as she and the others followed Tony.

"Well, kind of," answered Tony while smiling mischievously at the heroes, making them slightly uncomfortable.

A minute later, the Avengers were testing out the new training room in different areas and before long, they realized this was not a gym, this was a death trap.

Quite literally, the entire room was designed to try and kill them. Wasp flew down a dimly light hallway, several missiles chasing after her. Managing to dodge the first two, Wasp was knocked out of the air by the third when it exploded too close for her comfort. The blast was enough to send into a raised platform, causing her to crash into it and wobble in the air for a moment. As she regained herself, another panel opened up and fired three missiles at Wasp who didn't even have time to react to the incoming projectiles.

Before the incoming projectiles could hit Wasp, three repulsor shots impacted with the missiles, causing them to explode. Hovering above Wasp, Iron Man held his gauntlets out, the repulsors powering down. Iron Man then landed in front of Wasp, raised his arm, a small section folding back revealing a miniature rocket. He fired the rocket at the panel that fired the missiles destroying it in a massive explosion. Not sticking around, Wasp and Iron Man took off into the air as more weapons emerged from the walls.

In a dimly lit room, elsewhere in the training area: Ant-Man was walking around, till the lights suddenly turned on and mechanical tendrils shot out from the walls. The tendrils began to wrap around Ant-Man, however, the size-changer was able to escape thanks to his belt by shrinking his size down to slip free. Only making it a few feet, the floor beneath him split apart, catching the miniature hero off guard, causing him to fall in before the panels closed up above him. A few seconds passed before the floor exploded, revealing a semi-annoyed Giant-Man, his upper torso being the only thing actually seen.

Elsewhere, Thor wasn't doing so well either as he was presently flying up a long, cylindrical tube with a center pole connected to several large wrecking balls that swung around in circles. Essentially, it was a test to see how maneuverable you could be and not get smashed. The Prince was actually doing pretty well until he got slammed by one wrecking ball and was smashed into a wall.

Tired of this, the Asgardian decided to retaliate as he charged right at one of the arms connected to the wrecking ball. Raising Mjolnir, he slammed the mystic weapon right into a wrecking ball when it was swung at him. The result was the hammer snapping the incoming mass right off the arm holding it. The wrecking ball collided with a wall and got stuck to it, allowing Thor to move one.

However, the prince didn't get further than he already had before a large mechanical arm came out of a wall on the far side and pinned him against the side of the tube. Thoroughly getting annoyed, the Asgardian channeled his annoyance through Mjolnir, letting a massive bolt of lightning to fly out and obliterate the arm, freeing himself.

While some of the heroes were struggling to get through the course, Hulk was taking his time. And by that, he was standing in place while the training room did it's worst. So far, the jolly green giant was standing in place in a large hallway, arms folded as he scowled while parts of the wall began closing shut. However, he was hardly worried as the closing walls got closer to him. After several more doors shut, the last one shut right onto the Hulk.

But the giant didn't call himself 'The Strongest One There Is' for nothing as soon the doors began straining and the Hulk appeared between them. Using his incredible strength, the green bruiser easily pushed the machine apart. A very small part of him was impressed by the machines as they actually made him have to put some effort into it.

With a grunt, the doors parted further while the machine strained to overcome the Hulk. However, trying to do this only caused the internal mechanisms to overheat and malfunction. Hulk grabbed one of the doors and ripped it out of the wall and hurled it through the adjacent wall where the Avengers had regrouped. A few heroes looked exhausted from the training, however, Nero was missing from the group.

"Is that the best you've got, tin-man?" Hulk smugly shouted at Iron Man, obviously proud that he completely destroyed the machines meant to test his limits.

"It's self-repairing thanks for asking," stated Iron Man as he hovered just above the wreckage, though his mask hid it, Tony smirked at his next sentence, "By the way, that was level 1; of 10."

"Seriously?!" gasped Wasp as she barely managed to keep herself in the air, however, she quickly noticed that one of them was missing, "Hey? Where's Nero?"

 _"Master Nero is still currently training, engaging several LMBs,"_ informed JARVIS over the microphone system that was built into the I.D. cards that Tony handed out prior.

"Let's see how the kid's doing," suggested Tony as he flew in the direction where the hunter would be. Huffing, Wasp followed the inventor. Joining her was Ant-Man and Thor who walked after her while Hulk brought up the rear.

"You think Nero's in over his head?" asked Ant-Man to Thor, glancing at the prince from the corner of his eye.

"I have faith in young, Nero," assured Thor, "Despite his age, he has proven to be an exceptional combatant."

"Yeah," agreed Wasp as she flew in front of Hank, "Nero's a lot tougher than you give him credit for."

"It's just that-," started the scientist before being cut off.

"Wait, do you hear that?" asked Wasp as she listened carefully.

"Friend Wasp, I do not...," started Thor before stopping as he indeed hears something, it sounded like music, but it wasn't like anything he heard of before, "Actually, I do."

"If you guys are done talking," called out Iron Man, bringing their attention to the entrance into the room where Nero was, "You might wanna take a look."

Heeding his advice, Wasp flew right on ahead, followed close by Thor and Ant-Man. Hulk was a bit slower as he didn't see the point in finding out what was so interesting. The Avengers gathered right at the entrance to training where Nero was supposed to be and they were treated to a rather interesting sight and sound as well.

Taking on at a minimum of twenty LMDs was Nero. However, there was something interesting about what was happening. The teen was blasting music from a set of headphones that were flipped around to function as speakers while he took on the machines singlehandedly.

 _*Battle Music: One For The Money. By Escape The Fate*_

With Red Queen unsheathed the hunter charged right towards the robots. With a yell, he swung the mighty sword right at the machine, slicing it right in half before rolling to the side to avoid some shots fired at him by two other drones. Rolling to his feet, Nero swung his sword around, deflecting a few shots before leaping into a backflip as one drone tried tackling him from the side. As he flipped in the air, the hunter maneuvered himself around so that he sliced LMB in half, lengthways.

Quickly following up his attack, Nero revved the Exceed and used the blasting flames to propel himself right towards three LMDs. Swinging his sword with enough force, he decapitated all three robots at once before kicking one into a pair of other LMDs that tried to rush him.

Quickly sheathing his sword, Nero drew Blue Rose and rushed towards a drone, firing off one shot directly into the stomach. While it wasn't done, it gave him the opportunity to rush past it and shot another drone in the stomach like he did the last, however, he changed things up by swinging out his right arm and wrapping it around the waist. With his arm securely around the waist, he flipped back, and fired a shot into the previous LMD's head, destroying it as he wrapped his legs around the neck of the robot he held onto.

Using the momentum of the maneuver, Nero was able to spin the robot around and fire another shot into the head of another robot that tried to attack him. While the momentum of his swinging did spin the LMD he hung onto around, it had the effect of knocking it down, which Nero used by releasing his hold he had on the robot with his legs and flipped onto one hand when the robot hit the ground. Whilst upside down, Nero shot the drone in the head before flipping to his feet and shooting another LMD in the faceplate.

Taking down over half the drones in the room, Nero decided to try something he only really reserved for demons.

When one LMD tried to tackle him, Nero leaped into the air the moment it did so. Flipping in the air, he holstered Blue Rose and quickly grabbed Red Queen's handle and whipped out the sword. Falling back down to the ground, the hunter landed on the back of the robot and plunged his sword directly into the back.

"Let's go!" shouted Nero as he revved the Exceed.

A blast of flames shot out of the exhaust and had enough power to propel Nero forward. Essentially, the teen was riding the back of a robot-like some sort of hellish motorcycle. He angled the sword's exhaust in a way that allowed him to control where he was going and his direction, was wherever an LMD was. He plowed through the robots until only three were remaining.

With a bit of finesse, Nero flipped off the LMD he'd been riding and swung Red Queen around. The way he swung the blade allowed him to basically hurl the remains of the robot at the three last drones and knock them all down while Nero finished his fight with a little flourish, entering a stance that had Red Queen held back behind him while his right arm crossed his chest, two fingers extended in his final stance.

 _*End Battle Music*_

The gathered heroes were all very impressed and honestly surprised by Nero's combat prowess. Each with their own opinions, though, Wasp was the first to voice them.

"You sure do things in style, Nero," complimented Wasp as she flew over to the teen.

"If you're gonna do something, might as well look good while doing," smirked the platinum blonde as he relaxed and sheathed Red Queen across his back, "So, how'd you like the place?"

"I don't know what's going to kill me first: the villains or the gym," panted Wasp as she sat down on Nero's shoulder.

After a brief moment of rest for the heroes, with the exceptions of Thor, Hulk, and Nick who weren't even fazed by the training room, the tour ended in a large hall with an enormous round table with a red ring on the outer edge, blue in the middle, and a large black A on top.

"And this is the Assembly Hall," informed Tony as he walked in.

The walls stretched up to the roof and seemed to go on forever and were all colored black with a shine.

"All this money you've thrown into this is impressive Tony," commented Ant-Man, though his tone said something else, "Were you bored? Are we your new pet project? Why are we here?"

"Oh, that's a good question. Kind of angry, but that's okay," replied Tony while the team gathered around the round table, "J.A.R.V.I.S., bring up the most wanted list."

From the center, a large hologram appeared displaying the faces of the 74 super villains that escaped earlier in the week. Nero recognized a few names of the villains, having brushed up on whatever information he could find that wasn't classified by S.H.I.E.L.D. He immediately recognized guys like Mandrill and Graviton, having taken them down already, but most of them were still unknown.

"74 supervillains escaped the day of the breakout," stated Tony, "Graviton is being held by S.H.I.E.L.D. We caught Mandril, but we've got more work to do."

"Any idea on how these guys got out?" asked Nero, memorizing the faces of the villains, folding his arms as he looked at the large array of enemies.

From what he's learned, there were 4 supervillain prisons: the Vault, which held tech-based villains; The Cube, a place for villains whose powers come from radiation (mainly gamma); the Big House, the mini prison that was on the Helicarrier, which apparently held many of the regular super-powered villains; and the Raft, which held the most dangerous villains ever to exist on earth. And apparently on the day of the breakout, all these prisons security systems just shut down mysteriously, setting every prisoner free.

This raised a lot of red flags in Nero's opinion.

"No," answered Tony as he looked at the teen hunter, knowing where he was coming from, "S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't given any word on how all four prisons across the planet shut down simultaneously."

The inventor folded his arms, letting out a tired sigh, "It's either Fury is keeping this on an above need to know basis or he doesn't know himself. Either way; just leaves us with work that needs to be done."

"Dammit," swore Nero quietly, "Lot of help they'll be, and since we don't know how this happened, there's no way we can tell if this will happen again."

However, in the corner of his eye, Nero spotted Hulk brooding in the corner of the Assembly Hall. He looked to be talking to himself, which prompted the hunter to turn to the Hulk, raising an eyebrow at the jade giant. Hulk noticed Nero looking at him and faced the teen.

Nero gave the giant a shrug, however, Hulk just snorted and looked off in another direction. In any case, that was a positive reaction from the Hulk. When Nero turned back to the conversation, he missed the tiny glow green energy in Hulk's eyes before it faded away.

"I know many of these villains," said Thor as he looked at one picture in particular, "The Wrecker and his crew are formidable. His weapon is of unearthly might."

That's when Ant-Man interjected, "If we do recapture them all, where do we put them? The Big House is destroyed. The Vault is Destroyed. We haven't heard anything about the Cube."

"I'm working with a colleague on something now," answered Tony, "Reed Richards has proposed a prison that is actually outside this dimension. In a place, he calls the Negative Zone."

"Negative Zone?" asked Nero, raising an eyebrow at the name, "That like limbo or something?"

"It's a plane of existence comprised completely of negative energy," answered Hank.

"Sounds like hell," muttered the teen. It was at this point, the Hulk finally got fed up with all this and unfolded his arms.

"Too much talking," grunted the Hulk, saying something for the first time since they got to the Hall, "We should just go get these guys."

He punched his fist into his hand for emphasis. Nero just sighed and shook his head, he was like the Hulk a while back, more interested in a fight then plans. Hearing a slight snore, the hunter glanced to his left to see Wasp was starting to doze off at the edge of the table.

"Just take a second, Hulk. We just got here, might as well call it a day and get to know our new home before taking on the bad guys," spoke up the teen hunter, "Can't take out the bad guys if we don't know how to."

"At least one of you knows what you're doing." snorted Hulk coldly, but this comment was the last straw for Thor.

"I've had enough of you, creature," stated Thor angrily as he marched up towards the jade giant while a few Avengers watched, "Your insults end here."

"You want to go, Goldilocks?" shot back Hulk, itching for a fight, "Let's go."

"Woah, Woah, Woah, you two," stated Nero, becoming the voice of reason, strangely, "As much fun as it would be to watch you guys kick the snot out of each other; save it for my birthday. And since we'll be the only ones living here most of the time, I think everyone, myself included, would appreciate it if we didn't level it on the first day here."

Hulk only grunted and proceeded to leave the hall. Thor seemed to relax slightly with Hulk and then turned to talk with Iron-Man and Ant-Man. Nero let out a sigh of relief and pinched the bridge of his nose with Devil Bringer. On his left, Wasp walked up beside him.

"Wow," commented Wasp in a sarcastic tone, "he's gonna be fun."

"And I have to live with him," muttered Nero as he folded his arms, "staying with you is looking much better."

"Is that an insult?" teased Wasp as she threw an arm across Nero's shoulder, causing the hunter to chuckle.

"Can be whatever you want it to be," he snorted, "but if I'm being honest, I'll give it a shot. Just need some help moving out of your place to here."

"You know you don't have to leave yet," offered Wasp as she and Nero began to leave the room while the three other Avengers remained to talk.

"I don't, but I think Hank might be getting jealous," teased the silver-blond hunter, causing his friend to blush at the comment.

That night, the Avengers were all on break, Ant-Man went back to his lab in Grayburn College, Nero and Wasp went back to her apartment penthouse where Nick packed up his clothing, Hulk and Thor were back at the mansion, hopefully it would still be standing, and Tony was in Star Tower finishing up some business he had.

When Tony was giving the tour of the rooms inside the mansion, Nero placed dibs on a specific room, one that he would be living in. A good sized room, one that was much larger than the one he had back in his world. It came with a California king-sized bed, a very large walk-in closet, a built-in bathroom that came with a walk-in rain shower, a bathtub, two sinks, and a large cabinet. The bedroom had plenty of space for the bed, a large desk, small gas fireplace, a plasma screen tv, some pieces of furniture like an armchair that looked into the fireplace, two bedside tables, each with their own lap, and lastly, a small balcony that looked out into the backyard of the mansion.

All in all, it was a very good room. Which is why he wanted it. In the event that Dante finds a way here to this world, Nero wants to rub it in his face that he's living in a mansion, rent-free and doing it in style.

* * *

 _*Later...*_

After a quick ride back to Janet's apartment, the hunter was currently packing up the clothes Janet helped pick out for him when he came to this world. His reasoning for why he didn't have any close was because he was constantly traveling and taking clothes with him all the time wasted space and gas for his car. So he traveled light until now that is.

Using a suitcase that Janet lent him, the silver-haired teen was finishing up packing his belongings. With everything he needed, all that was left, was to pack his car and head over to the mansion and settle into his room.

"Thanks for lending me a case, Jan," thanked Nero as he zipped up the suitcase he was borrowing.

"Hey it's alright," said Janet as she stood outside the guest room Nero had been using since he arrived. Once he had all his clothes packed, he and Janet left her apartment to head for the street. Parked outside the building on the curb was the hunter's sportscar.

So far, things had gone off without a hitch, but Nero knew better than to think everything was fine when nothing is happening. And he was right.

* * *

 _ **Avengers Mansion, Manhattan, New York**_

Back at the mansion, things were pretty quiet. However, it wouldn't be that way for long but it should be noted that the terminals within the building allowed J.A.R.V.I.S. complete control over all the devices and systems built into the Victorian building. But it wasn't without weaknesses as some terminals began to fill with static, glitching out till they shut down. Before each terminal shut down, it was able to discern the outline of a feminine figure.

Unable to compute what was happening, the A.I did the next thing it could do in its' programming and alerted the closest person.

Thor was currently sitting in the lounge on the couch, watching the fire within the fireplace blaze. As being raised within a magical realm, Thor had little to no interest in television, not that he fully understood how to operate the device. So continuing to watch the flames, Thor recounted dozens of battles within his past, lost in thought until he was interrupted by a polite British voice.

 _"Pardon me, sir,"_ said the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S., _"There would appear to be something wrong."_

"What be thy concern, ethereal voice?" asked Thor, more than a little discomforted about what might make a machine concerned.

 _"I have no physical evidence of this, but I believe the mansion's systems are being tampered with. I believe there is an intruder."_

With his natural Asgardian luster for battle, Thor stood up from the couch and summoned Mjolnir to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Thor saw Hulk walking passed the doorway.

"Come Hulk," announced Thor cheerfully, "Let us patrol the grounds. The house believes we have been infiltrated. Perhaps if we are lucky, we will find battle this night." Holding up Mjolnir to help prove his point.

In spite of his joyful personality, Thor failed to discern the faint green glow that emanated from Hulk's eyes. Hulk merely grunted and stomped up to the Thunderer.

"I don't battle. I smash," growled Hulk as he looked down at Thor, "And if you talk to me again, hammer face, I'll smash you."

Thor's grin dissolved quickly, he should have guessed that trying to make merry with an ill-tempered beast like Hulk would be fruitless. Scowling at Hulk, Thor adopted a combat stance.

"If you wish to test your mettle against an Asgardian, I am happy to oblige."

The two heavy hitters stood their ground, glaring at the other, daring the other to back down. The tension within the Mansion had become so thick someone could have cut through it like butter. A moment passed before Hulk growled before stepping back.

"I don't need this, I don't need anyone. Tell the others I quit!" Hulk yelled as he stomped out of the mansion.

"Good riddance," stated Thor coldly as he watched Hulk leave. A second had barely passed before the television within the lounge flared to life. On the screen was a very concerned Pepper Potts.

"JARVIS just told me the Hulk left," said Pepper as she looked through the screen, "Thor, you have to bring him back."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because he's our responsibility. And with the mood he's in, he's liable to tear down the whole city," explained Pepper, "Please go get him."

Thor grumbled as he grudgingly followed Pepper's request. The woman made it practically, if not entirely, impossible to say no to. Besides, it wasn't like she was wrong either. They did have a responsibility to the Hulk as well as Nero after their meeting with Fury. So with no other option, he left to go search for his foul-tempered companion.

* * *

 ** _New York Streets, New York_**

In the streets of New York City, people were running terrified of the appearance of the angry Hulk. Despite not done anything aggressive, his mere presence was enough motivation for crowds of people to run screaming.

The people's cries of fear were not helping the Hulks' mood in the least, but what got on his nerves the most was his counterpart: Banner. This was a topic never discussed with anyone, mostly because it was none of their concern or business that he talked with Banner on some occasions. It was Banner who convinced the Hulk to help the other heroes, to prove that he is not a monster like everybody believes. But now something changed, Banner was now telling the Hulk that the Avengers would turn against him, like everyone else, they would only see him as a monster and would try to imprison him the first chance presented.

But Hulk didn't believe so; Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Thor aside, Hulk actually believed the heroes were pretty nice, particularly Nero and Wasp. Some unapparent reason left Hulk feeling that the former was actually in some way, believing in him without letting any hint out. Could it be that S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to turn him into a weapon or use his knowledge to create super soldiers, or is it because he had as much as Hulk?

Before Hulk could make a conclusion, he was interrupted by a very annoyed Thor who landed directly in front of Hulk.

"You are to come back to Avenger's Mansion with me, Hulk," stated Thor; actually is was less a statement and more of an order from the Asgardian. His tone leaving no room to argue.

Not even bothering to argue, Hulk just growled and tried to push passed the Thunderer. A few paces later, Thor grabbed a hold of his arm.

"T'was not a request."

This set him off; the bad move on Thor's part caused Hulk to roar and smash a giant fist into him, sending the Prince of Asgard flying through the street and into the side of a building. Thor rose from the debris and stared the Hulk down, a tiny smirk formed.

He finally had a reason to fight the Hulk.

* * *

 _ **Avengers Mansion, Manhattan, New York**_

A navy blue muscle car came to a halt within the Avengers car park, the vehicle rumbled idle for a moment before it pulled into a space where it's engine shut off. Stepping out of the vehicle, Nero and Janet both got out after getting his belongings from her apartment. Heading to the trunk, the hunter grabbed some two suitcases just as the heroine closed the door to the passenger door.

"So you and Hank?" said Nero suddenly as he closed the trunk and grabbed the two suitcases. The sudden mention of the scientist and her caused Janet to blush slightly, "Kinda curious how that happened."

"How do you mean?" asked Janet as she tilted her slightly.

"You're the party girl that's a ton of fun to be around while Hank is kinda the nerd that is extremely cautious and wants to think things through more," explained the hunter as he glanced over his shoulder back at the heroine, the two entering the mansion and started towards the room where Nero would be living in, "Kinda an odd mix in my mind."

"Maybe," sighed Janet, however, a mischevious look soon appeared as she gave the young adult a teasing smirk, "But what about you? Any special girl you have?"

Nero stopped dead in his tracks as he looked blankly ahead. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he tightened his grip on the suitcase handles. Jan noticed his sudden change in behavior and gave the young man a confused look.

"Nero?" she asked.

The hunter didn't reply, not that he could as a beeping sound suddenly started. Looking down at his pocket, Nero set down one of his suitcases and pulled out his I.D. card. The communication device was flashing, letting both of them know there was trouble.

"Ask me later," was all Nero said before he dropped the suitcases and sprinted towards his bedroom while Wasp flew out the door. She knew he'd catch up, he just needed to get his sword.

* * *

 _ **Central Park, Manhattan, New York**_

The peaceful night air was a welcomed presence within Central Park but was rudely interrupted by the sudden impact of an Asgardian Prince, crashing into the ground. Center of the park, a massive cloud of dust was cast up when Thor impacted with the ground.

Hulk landed near the impact site, searching for his opponent. His short search was cut even shorter when Thor charged out of the smoke, letting out a war cry as he charged. Mjolnir raised above his head, Thor slammed the mystic weapon directly into Hulk's head, knocking him off balance long enough for Thor swing his hammer again, sending Hulk into a statue. The collision was enough to knock Hulk's I.D. card out of his pocket, but the sight of the card made Hulk angrier as he crushed it under his massive foot. The with a massive roar, Hulk charged forward and leaped at the Asgardian, tackling him mid-air and sending them both through a line of trees. The impact carved a wide trench, marking over half the park.

Hulk and Thor continued to battle, wrestling with each other to a standstill as of present. The fight was interrupted when Wasp and Nero ran in. The young man had Red Queen strapped across his back as he stood by the side.

"Hulk, please stop," Wasp begged, holding her hands in a calming gesture, "Why are you doing this?"

"Hulk, what the hell is wrong with you?" demanded Nero, as he adjusted his stance slightly, ready to grab Red Queen should Hulk attack.

However, it wasn't the green giant that would, instead it was Thor who slugged Hulk right across the face, sending him flying back a few yards. Nero snapped his head around to look at Thor, the Prince heading to follow up his punch. However, Nero got in the way, grabbing the Thunderer by the arm, "You're not helping right now."

However, a low and rather angry growl drew their attention back to the Hulk who was getting back to his feet. An enraged glare on his face as he stomped towards the heroes. About halfway between them, Iron Man suddenly flew down in front of Hulk and tried stopping him, however, even his jet boots weren't powerful enough to stop the Hulk as he tried pushing the gamma giant back.

Right now, Hulk's attention was locked firmly onto Thor. His eyes were full of anger.

"Hulk! Hulk stop this!" demanded Iron Man as he tried pushing harder, "You have to listen!"

The Avenger's attempts of reasons fell on deaf ears as the Hulk was focused solely on Thor. However, during his vain attempts, his systems picked up something coming from the Hulk, and it wasn't the usual Gamma Energy.

 _"Alert,"_ announced JARVIS through the Iron Avenger's hud, _"unknown energy detected."_

Sure enough, thanks to Tony's sensors, he could see a green aura surrounding Hulk's head. It was on a spectrum invisible to the naked eye, but not to the inventor's sensors.

Hulk, wait, there's something...AH!" cried out Iron Man as Hulk suddenly grabbed a hold of his head and slammed him into the ground. Before the giant could attack, several bio-stings struck the jade giant taking his attention off Iron Man. Hulk was then hit by Nero when he charged right at him and drop kicked the giant right in the face, knocking him back several.

As the Hulk steadied himself, he growled at Nero who landed back on his feet, "Mind if I cut in?" quipped the Demon Hunter.

The Hulk only growled as he had new targets to smash. As the giant was focused on them, Thor had run over to Iron Man to help him up.

"There's some kind of weird energy around the Hulk, informed Iron Man, he then looked down at Mjolnir, comparing the energy it was giving off to the energy affecting the Hulk, "Thor, it's similar to what you hammer is giving off."

Thor's expression darkened at the realization, "Tis dark magic. The Hulk has been enchanted."

Nero jumped back as Hulk punched the ground where he previously and landed next to both Thor and Iron Man, "So the big guy has someone pulling his strings. Any idea who might that be?"

Before Thor could answer, an angered growl emerged from the Hulk as he stalked towards the heroes. Now, he was ready to crush them all. But before he could make it any closer to them, a massive hand came down on top of him, pinning him in place. The one responsible was Giant-Man, he had a confident grin on his face.

"I'm guessing this isn't a trust-building exercise." quipped Giant-Man.

Before anyone could respond, Giant-Man was the flipped over the heroes and landed on his back. Hulk released his hold on Giant-Man's hand and leaped into the air. Nero drew Blue Rose and fired several shots at the Hulk, but thanks to his invulnerable skin, the bullets were nothing more than mere pellets. The giant landed on Giant-Man's head, who was just getting up from being flipped over. Hulk raised his fists into the air, ready to crush Giant-Man's head. Before he could, Hulk saw something coming out of the corner of his eye, it was Thor who was flying right at him, hammer poised to strike him.

The Asgardian swung Mjolnir at Hulk, but he dodged it. The attack caused Thor to lose balance when he missed, leaving him open to Hulk who grabbed his cape and began to spin him around. After picking up enough momentum, Hulk threw Thor across the park.

Giant-Man attempted to get Hulk off, but the green bruiser was not making it easy. Iron Man attempted to fly in, intending to tackle the Hulk, but the strongest one there is saw him coming and countered Iron Man's attack by clotheslining him, sending the armored hero into some trees.

Hulk jumped off Giant-Man's head and landed on his shoulder. The size changer then turned to face Hulk, but Hulk sucker-punched him in the face. The impact was enough to knock Giant-Man back onto his back, unconscious. Hulk then landed on Giant-Man's chest, hands held up to take his advantage.

"Get away from him!" cried out a voice that was followed by several bio-stings and twin Thorns from both Nero and Wasp, the latter was the one who called out.

The remaining heroes continued their attack, Nero holding back somewhat as he was still their ally and he didn't kill people, only demons, but they couldn't let Hulk hurt the others.

"Come on big green, come and get us," taunted Nero as he jumped back as the Hulk went after them. Suddenly, Hulk pulled his hands back clapped them together, creating a giant shockwave. The power behind it was strong enough to send Wasp flying back and into a tree where she crashed into the plant and fell to the ground.

Nero was merely blown back several feet as he kept his footing. The hunter looked back to see Wasp down. He gritted his teeth as holstered Blue Rose.

"Okay, Hulk, I tried pulling my punches, but that didn't work," grunted Nero as he cracked his knuckles while the Hulk growled, "Guess hurting you, is the only way of helping you."

Hulk roared and lunged at the teen raising his right fist, however, at the last second, Nero leaped over the green bruiser and used his back as a springboard to put some distance between the two. Landing back down on the ground, the demon hunter spun around to see the jade giant charging right towards him. Both fists raised into the air as he swung down at Nero. At the same time, Nero channeled energy into Devil Bringer, opening his palm as energy collected. The hunter let out a shout as he thrust his open palm right at Hulk. The result was a massive burst of energy, taking the form of Spectral Bringer that slammed right into Hulk's chest.

Hulk was completely blown back by the surprise attack, landing on his back, digging a small trench. Nero, for his part, shook his hand as he grimaced, not used to doing things like that. However, without warning, another roar caught his attention, prompting the hunter to look back in time to see Hulk charging right towards him. Crossing his arms, Nero tried blocking the backhand from the jade giant that sent him flying across the area where he smashed through a tree.

"Dammit," swore Nero as he got into a sitting position, however, he didn't get far before Hulk landed in front of him, an enraged expression on his face. The giant pulled his right fist back and punched the hunter into the ground, creating a large crater.

A pained yell came from Nero as he felt his bones crack under the strength of the punch. He groaned as he went limp and entered unconsciousness, being taken off guard really hurt. Hulk glared down at the demon-human teen before him, raising his hands ready to crush him. Within Hulk's mind, Bruce Banner, who was mysteriously chained up within glowing green chains broke free from his bonds. The release of Banner broke the enchantment that Hulk had been under. Hulk shook his head as he cleared it cleared his confusion and now realized what he had done. Hulk looked down at Nero, guilt almost immediately flooded him as he saw the one person who didn't treat him as a monster was nearly killed by him. The first person to ever come close to be a friend to Hulk, and he had almost smashed him, killed him. With that, he and the entire team would only see him as a monster, nothing would change, ever.

Hulk sighed sadly before he leaped away from the Avengers, just before Nero came to and saw the Hulk leave.

"Dammit," swore Nero as he got back to his feet and decided to regroup with the others.

They needed to figure out what Hulk's change in behavior meant.

"That went well," said Iron Man sarcastically as he addressed the team, "Is everyone-GAH!" yelped Iron Man suddenly as a giant battle-ax became embedded into his armor. The armored Avenger fell back with a thud.

Both Nero and Thor were taken by surprise, however, thanks to his reflexes, the Demon Hunter was able to dodge the blast of green energy shot at both him and Thor. The Asgardian was knocked back several feet, dropping Mjolnir in the process, while Nero regained himself and drew Red Queen, eyes narrowed as he glared at the owners.

Thor tried reaching for his hammer, but another blast of energy surrounded the weapon in a green aura. The aura zapped Thor when he tried picking up his signature weapon.

"The Avengers," said a smooth, feminine voice, causing Thor to join Nero in looking at the owner, "How unimpressive. You had better hope someone more capable chooses to avenge you."

The first was a hauntingly beautiful Caucasian woman with a slender body, long blonde hair that reached down to her waist, green eyes and light pink lipstick. She wore a green skintight suit, revealing her curves as well as leaving her shoulders exposed, and a matching mini skirt. She also wore long green arm sleeves that almost came up to her shoulders, black tights that had green circles on the sides, and on her head was a green tiara.

The second figure was a large, well-built man, almost the same size as Hulk. He was completely bald, several tattoos crossed his body and had a walrus mustache. He wore dark black and red armor, silver shoulder pads, red chest plate, and black gloves.

The two new arrivals stood above Iron Man, his armor shut down from the impact of the ax in his armor.

"J.A.R.V.I.S? J.A.R.V.I.S, raise the shields," ordered Iron Man, his voice betrayed he was panicking.

 _"Not possible, sir,"_ responded the A.I. _"Armor systems are in critical condition and are losing power."_

Right after J.A.R.V.I.S. had finished, Iron Man felt a jerk as the ax that was wedged in his armor was yanked out, exposing the large hole in his armor chest plate.

Thor recovered after his moment of shock, seeing an old enemy return, as well as from the shock of her spell cast upon his hammer that zapped him. He glared angrily at the two attackers.

"How dare you attack us, Enchantress!" yelled Thor at the woman who was not worried in any way at all as she placed her hands on her hips, eyeing him.

Nero glanced at Thor for a moment before resting Red Queen on his shoulder, "Okay, I'll bite; who's the witch and axe-fetish?"

"The Enchantress and her Executioner, they are Asgardians," Thor explained though with some bitterness lacing his words.

"Not your friends then," drawled Nero as he glared at their attackers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thor nod, confirming they were not allies, "Great."

Thor nodded before returning his attention to the pair of Asgardians, "Why have you come here, Amora?" he demanded.

"Oh, you love Midgard so much, Thunderer," explained Amora tauntingly as she raised her hand that soon became enveloped in magic, "We thought we would come and see what all the fuss is about."

She then pointed her hand at the Prince and Hunter, firing a blast of green magic at them. Thor and Nero jumped away from the blast that struck the ground where they previously stood. Rolling across his shoulder, the Demon Hunter sheathed Red Queen and drew Blue Rose. Taking aim he fired a dozen shots at the witch, however, his bullets struck the barrier she formed to defend herself. The hunter gritted his teeth in annoyance, however, he then had to jump back to avoid the large ax that was swung at him.

The silver-haired teen grabbed Red Queen with his right hand and drew his sword before facing the Executioner who raised his ax and charged at Nero. The hunter sprinted towards the Asgardian, raising his own sword. Both their weapons clashed with each other, a shower of sparks flying at the point of contact.

The hunter suddenly took aim with Blue Rose and tried shooting Amora's servant, but missed when the Executioner used the flat side of the blade to block the twin rounds. The brute kicked Nero in the stomach, causing the hunter to stumble back.

"Guess you're tougher than you look," snorted Nero as he held his stomach. The Executioner said nothing as he adjusted his grip on his ax.

"Silent type, huh?" taunted the hunter as he holstered Blue Rose and took Red Queen back into his left hand, "Well... that's annoying."

He then lunged right at the Asgardian, Exceed roaring as he slashed at the Executioner. The burly man raised his ax and blocked the strike, but frowned as he felt himself strain under the power of the strike, his boots digging into the grass a bit. The hunter continued to viciously attack the villain, hacking and slashing at him, but the Executioner proved by an excellent combatant, blocking each swing from Nero.

It wasn't until the demon hunter suddenly gunned the Exceed as he went in for an upward slash. The miniature engine roared as Nero launched into the air, spinning while landing a brutal attack. The strike was strong enough to send the Asgardian sliding back several feet.

Landing back on the ground, Nero chased the Executioner, slashing mercilessly at him, forcing the Asgardian backpedal under the aggressive assault. It was when the Demon Hunter suddenly slashed up, knocking his foe's weapon up, he sent a surprise punch right at the Executioner's chest, landing a brutal punch right that sent him sliding back several yards.

The Executioner frowned as he held his chest. Removing his hand, he raised an eyebrow when he saw a fist-shaped dent in his armor. The Asgardian frowned as he returned his attention back to Nero. Flipping his ax around, he charged right towards the teen, raising his axe.

Nero brought Red Queen up to block the weapon, both blades clashed in a shower of sparks, however, the hunter was taken by surprise when the Executioner backhanded him away. The force of the blow was enough to send him stumbling back. Looking back up, the teen saw the Asgardian swing his weapon at him again. Instead of raising his weapon, the hunter braced himself and brought up Devil Bringer. The glowing appendage met the Asgardian weapon.

From the point where the blade meets Nero's demonic arm, a burst of energy flashed before a massive shockwave blasted the Executioner away while the teen was knocked to the ground with a gunt, his back bouncing off the grass and flipping around before coming to a rest on his stomach.

"Nero!" shouted Thor, seeing his young friend go down. He tried to go over and help his friend, but he was stopped in his tracks by Enchantress who shot a beam of magic at the prince, forcing him back. However, before she could fire again, a yellow beam of energy struck the sorcerer, causing her to backstep. Wasp flew down, firing her stingers in a frenzy after she saw Nero take such a hard hit.

"I'll handle the witch!" shouted the heroine as she continued firing at the Asgardian Sorceress, "Go help, Nero!"

Thor nodded and then ran over to his injured teammate with anger plastered across his face. But before he got close, he saw something that amazed him; Nero's arm was completely fine. The demon hunter was back on his feet and shaking Devil Bringer slightly.

"Okay, I'll admit, that was pretty good," commented Nero as he directed his attention to the Executioner, "but then again, so is this!"

He then thrust his right hand right towards the Asgardian, a larger spectral hand appeared and grabbed the Executioner. The hunter yanked the larger man right towards him before essentially ragdolling him. Smashing him into the ground a few times before hurling the man away, the hunter snorted as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder.

He then noticed Thor, who was looking at him in shock. The hunter smirked as he held up his right hand, "Magic doesn't really mean much to me," explained the hunter, "also, I hunt demons for a living. Wouldn't be around if I couldn't take a hit."

"If that is true, hunter," interrupted a sultry voice, bringing the attention of both Nero and Thor to the Enchantress who had defeated Wasp with her magic, "Let's see how much punishment you can take."

The two Avengers took fighting stances as the Executioner returned and stood by his mistress. The two groups charged and the battle continued.

* * *

 _Elsewhere_ _..._

As the battle in the park took place, the gloomy figure of the Hulk lumbered into a small ally before sitting down and leaned against the wall. Hulk crossed his arms over his legs and stared glumly at the ground, he could believe that within a day he had almost killed his new teammates, the first people that didn't run or try to lock him up the moment they saw him.

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice that called out in his mind.

"You have to go back."

Before the Hulk and man appeared. He had a rather weak build while being chased by various people and a scruffy beard, brown messy hair, brown eyes. He wore dark blue jeans and a hoodie with a white shirt underneath. He was Bruce Banner, alter ego of the Hulk and one of the smartest men on the planet.

"Someone is manipulating you. They wanted you to fight the Avengers. You have to go back and make sure they're okay," Bruce pleaded in a calm yet urgent tone to his monstrous alter ego. But the Hulk merely looked down at his feet, his scowl at its maximum.

"Everything you said was true. I am a monster," He grumbled at the scientist.

"It's only true if you let it be," Bruce replied as he figment walked over to the green giant and laid a hand on his arm, making the Hulk look at him, "Walk away now and it will be."

* * *

Back in the park, the fight was going about as well as you'd expect. Not good at all. Iron Man's armor couldn't replenish its power faster than it was losing it, Thor was still missing his hammer; without it, he was at a pretty big disadvantage compared to his enemies. Wasp could only do so much as her stings only annoyed the Executioner and Amora could easily shield herself from any attack with her magic or teleport away. As for Giant-Man, he was doing pretty well, using his enormous size and strength to his advantage, trying to smash Executioner into the ground. Nero for his part was holding his own, but it was clear that the Asgardian's experience gave them an advantage.

Executioner stood over Iron Man, his ax raised above his head.

"Oh, this gonna hurt," gasped Iron Man, but before the villain could slice him in two, Wasp charged right towards him, stingers blaring as she tried to force the Asgardian back. Taking his attention off the downed Avenger, he tried swinging his ax at her but missed.

"Hey, chatty!" barked Nero, causing Scourge to turn around and receive a brutal right hook that sent him stumbling back. Following up his attack, Giant-Man launched a colossal punch at the Asgardian. However, the servant of Amora evaded the blow by jumping back.

Executioner dodged from left to right, avoiding Hank's attempts to punch him. It was after one punch did the Asgardian decided to retaliate. Ax glowing bright red, he swung the weapon towards Giant-Man's head, shooting a fireball right towards the hero. Taken by surprise, Hank let out a shout as he reverted back to his normal size, trying to put out the flames that surrounded his head with hands. Once the flames were out, he fell onto his back.

Nero gritted his teeth as he let out an angered yell and charged right towards the Executioner. Amora's servant turned to the Hunter and raised his ax and swung at the teen. Nero fell to his knees and leaned back, sliding across the ground underneath the blade. Spinning around, he drew Blue Rose and began shooting mercilessly at the Asgardian. Scourge, raised his arm, the bullets striking his tough skin but not quite able to pierce his flesh. Frowning at the annoying cur, Scourge hurled his ax at Nero. Eyes widening in surprise, the hunter raised Devil Bringer and blocked the weapon with his demonic arm.

The force behind the through caused the teen to slide back a few feet. His demonic biology was the only thing keeping the hunter from being sliced in two by the Executioner. Gritting his teeth, Nero charged right back towards the Asgardian, who recovered his weapon and charged as well.

As for Wasp, she flew over to Iron Man, who was still lying prone on the ground, his armor still crippled.

"Iron Man," addressed Wasp, her tone full of trepidation that he might not have anything, "now might be a good time for some kind of... something."

"Armor's leaking energy faster than I can recharge," groaned Iron Man, sparks coming out of the large slice in his chest plate. He clearly sounded like he was being strained, "Unless you got some spare batteries lying around, or an electrical socket..."

Before he could ask anything else, a green mist appeared around Wasp and yanked her away. Standing above Iron Man was Amora, her own hand surrounded by that very same energy that held Wasp. The heroine struggled to get free but it was hopeless.

Thor also suffered a similar fate, forced to his knees while a ring of mist pinned his arms to his sides. Her glared at Amora for her treachery, but looks could only do so much. This left only one Avenger standing.

The demon hunter was knocked away by Executioner's ax, Nero using Devil Bringer to defend himself since it was the only part of him that was invulnerable to pretty much everything except the Yamato. The teenager hit the ground hard on the path leading to Amora and the restrained Avengers. Red Queen had been knocked out of his hand and slid across the ground toward Amora who planted her boot on the weapon to keep it out of Nero's grasp.

The hunter growled as he got back to his feet, shaking his head slightly.

"You have been very impressive, boy. It has never taken this long for my Executioner to fell anyone before," remarked the Enchantress, her tone full of interest while her gaze fell upon his right arm, "And your arm, it holds great power."

"Yeah?" snapped Nero as he glared at the Asgardian woman, "What about it?"

Amora sent the young hunter a naughty smile before a ring suddenly appeared around Nero. The teenager gritted his teeth as he struggled against the magic when Devil Bringer suddenly started glowing brighter. The Avenger watched with confusion as some mist floated from the ring around Nero and into Devil Bringer.

The hunter growled as the bonds suddenly broke. Instead of being shocked or enraged that her spell was broken, Amora was now much more interested.

"There are only a few creatures in the world that have such resistance to my magic," noted the Asgardian. Nero growled as he charged right towards the woman, "however, I must be sure."

It was then Red Queen was covered in green magic lifted off the ground. Nero pulled his right hand back, intending to slug the Enchantress right across the face when suddenly, pain erupted through his chest.

"NERO!" Screamed Wasp in horror at what she saw. Nero stepped back and looking down, he saw he had been impaled by Red Queen. He stumbled back before falling to the ground. Blood began seeping out of his wounds as Amora stood over him. Executioner then joined her, looking down at the hunter, watching as his eyes close.

"Such a waste," sighed the witch, when she heard a groan. Looking to the side, she saw Hank Pym coming around. Glancing at her servant, Executioner nodded before walking right up to the downed Hank Pym; who's mask was also sporting some burns from Executioner's last attack, which made the Enchantress grin slyly, "but he won't be alone for long."

"The giant man first," ordered Amora, "His head will make a good trophy, along with the boy's arm once we remove it."

Executioner nodded, then raised his ax to its zenith, ready to decapitate the size-changing hero.

"Hank, Nero...," wept Wasp as some tears fell from her eyes. Unknown to the Avengers, the teen wasn't out yet.

Nero's eyes snapped out, burning red as some energy began to flow around him. The hunter let out a growl as Devil Bringer started shining brighter and brighter, gaining the attention of the heroes and their attackers. What followed next was a massive blast that erupted from Nero. Amora had to shield herself from the blast while Executioner just tanked the hit. A large cloud of dust was thrown up into the air, shrouding Nero from view.

Slowly, the dust beginning to clear and allow an azure glow to shine through. Everyone's eyes widened in shock to see Nero back on his feet, Red Queen still stabbed through him. Energy surged all around his body while the Spectre floated just behind him. While in his Devil Trigger, the hunter frowned as he gripped his weapon by the handle and proceeded to rip it out of his chest, sending a shower of blood onto the ground.

 _ **"That wasn't fun,"**_ stated Nero ominously as he sheathed Red Queen across his back, _**"But it did fool you."**_

"H-how are you...," stammered Amora, completely shocked. The boy was completely impaled! How was he still alive?!

 _ **"Wanna know how I lived?"**_ demanded Nero harshly as he held out his right hand. In the palm, Yamato formed, the Spectre mimicking his movements, _**"How about I give you a hint!"**_

Nero then swung Yamato in the Executioner's direction, a wave of energy flung right towards him while the Spectre followed the hunter's movements. The wave smashed right into the Asgardian and exploded on impact. The wave was so powerful that it knocked the brute through several trees and across the ground. With the muscle out of the way, Nero turned towards Amora, flipping Yamato twirling Yamato around in his hand, the Spectre following him.

 _ **"Your turn,"**_ stated Nero as he started towards the woman.

"I disagree," smirked Amora as she clenched her fists, causing the bonds surrounding the other Avengers to tighten, making them winch in pain. Nero stopped in his tracks and glanced between them and Amora.

Enchantress gave the devil hunter a sickly playful smile and waged her finger. "Uh, Uh, Ah" she taunted, "You wouldn't want me to do anything … Unfortunate to you little friends would you?" The bonds tightened even further as both Thor and Wasp winched at the pain.

"Hostages Amoura?" Thor spat as the glared at the witch, "Have you no honor?"

His question was left unanswered as the Enchantress kept her gaze on the hunter, whom she was thoroughly enjoying to torment. She then glanced behind Nero, however, the hunter easily caught on. His glowing red eyes flashed for a second, the Spectre suddenly moved on its own and blocked the Executioner's ax that was swung at Nero with its own ghostly version of the Yamato. The Spectre then launched a brutal punch that sent Scourge flying back and across the ground.

 _ **"You gave your hired help away, lady,"**_ snorted Nero as he dismissed Yamato and folded his arms while the Spectre sheathed its own sword in the organic sheath attached to his arm. Amora frowned at the boy.

"Even still, you cannot beat me," stated Amora, however, she adopted a confused look when she saw him smirk, "You are the only one still standing and I have all your friends."

 _ **"Who said they were 'all' here?"**_ asked Nero rhetorically.

It was then a massive impact hit the ground at the edge of the clearing, startling everyone, except Nero as he calmly glanced at the origin. The collision also knocked Amora towards the Executioner who had just come back to see his lady knocked down. A loud growl echoed through the night as the Hulk joined the Avengers.

 _ **"Had a feeling you might come back,"**_ said Nero, gaining Hulk's attention who only snorted in response. As a result of the impact, Amora's concentration had been broken, freeing the Avenger's from her spell.

The now free Thor held out his hand, summoning Mjolnir to him. He held his mighty hammer aloft, summoning a bolt of lightning to him, which sparked and crackled in every direction. The Enchantress stood her ground and opposed the Asgardian Prince.

"I do not fear your lightning, Odinson." She spoke defiantly "Your magic is nothing against mine."

"You are not my target, witch." Thor then stood aside, revealing Iron Man; now back on his feet with lighting sparking across his armor recharging it.

"Armor energy reserves at 214%," J.A.R.V.I.S announced to Tony as he showed the armor's systems on the HUD, making the Iron Avenger grin. He then activated his thrusters and narrowly avoided a slash for the Executioners ax, then fired a repulsor blast into his chest, knocking him back to be right next to his mistress. Iron Man then landed and regrouped with the Avengers, minus Giant-Man.

"Take them down." Iron Man ordered as the Avengers charged at their enemies.

Wasp fired several stingers at the Enchantress, who blocked the attack with a magical shield; then before she could counter, jumped away from Thor's hammer strike.

At the same time, Executioner raises his ax to block a punch from the Hulk, but the green giant's strength proved too much for the brute as he was sent sliding back a few meters. Wasp then flew forward, firing her stingers at the Executioner's face, but the brute blocked them with his axe; which then lite up blue, the Asgardian brute then slammed the axe blade into the ground and a wave of ice traveled across the ground to were Hulk and Nero charged from. Nero leaped over the attack, leaving Hulk behind who was unfortunately frozen in ice. While in the air, Nero sent Spectral Bringer right at the Executioner, the Spectre mimicking his movements and grabbed right onto the Asgardian's face. Nero let out a yell as he yanked the Asgardian into the air towards him. While still suspended, the hunter hurled Amora's lackey around and right at a nearby bridge, smashing him through the stone.

Back at the other end of the field Iron Man and Thor were having a tough time with the Enchantress. True to her claim, her magical ability proved to be stronger than any of them. She created a shield to block another of Thor's blows, then nimbly avoided two more swings before blasting the Thunderer with her magic making him crash into Giant Man, who had just regained consciousness, sending them both into a nearby lake. Iron Man then swooped in and fired his repulsors at the Asgardian witch, but she merely teleported a few feet away to where she was. Iron Man continued to fire a barrage of repulsor blasts, each time Enchantress would teleport away, taunting the armored hero. After another fail attempted to hit her, the Enchantress raised her arms, which then became surrounded by green magic; then Iron Man was surrounded by the same aura, with a flick of her wrist, she sent Iron Man hurling into a statue nearby.

Wasp in the meantime was doing her own taunting as she was flying all around the Executioner like a mosquito, stinging him all over; the Asgardian brute was so large and slow compared to her that she could easily avoid his axe. This soon proved to be nothing more than a distraction as the Hulk charged out of the blue and delivered a powerful haymaker to the Executioner's face sending him flying over the tree line.

The Enchantress seeing this, and knowing that the Avengers already hade numbers on their side, decided to even the playing field. While she would have preferred the boy due to his intriguing nature, she had already planted the spell inside him; raised her hand to the Hulk, surrounding his head in a green aura. The green giant then turned to her in a trance making her grin.

"Destroy them all, my creature," she ordered as the Hulk advanced towards her. Suddenly he stopped, shook his head, then glared at the Enchantress with hateful eyes.

"NO ONE, CONTROLS THE HULK!" he roared as he stamped his foot into the ground causing a shockwave of the earth to flow straight to the Enchantress, knocking her off her feet. With her down the Avengers took their change as Iron Man fired his repulsors, Thor unleashed his lightning and Nero sent another wave of energy with Yamato.

All the attacks met on the Enchantresses location, causing a massive explosion.

When the dust cleared Iron Man, Thor, and Nero stood around the unconscious form of the Enchantress. She had several scratches and bruises but nothing to serious, which really made Nero hate Asgardian durability. The heroes' attention was caused by a groan from Giant-Man, who was being supported by Wasp, the fact that he was still moving gave the hunter some relief. A part of him would admit that Tony was right, neither one of them could have beat them on their own, well he could have if they didn't take him by surprise, but the point still remained; they worked better together as a team.

 _'Could use some work though,'_ thought Nero as he dismissed Yamato and folded his arms.

"Watch out!" Wasp suddenly screamed the others turned only to get swatted aside by the Executioners ax. The Asgardian brute then slung the Enchantress over his shoulder, then used his axe to open a portal allowing both to escape before anyone could react.

Giant-Man and Wasp walked up to the others as they got up from the surprise attack.

"Aah, does somebody want to explain what that was all about?" Giant-Man asked, his voice a clear reflection on how sore he was.

"Old enemies from Asgard," Thor explained, "The Enchantress has ever found joy in causing me pain."

 _ **"The hell did you do,**_ **stand** her up at a date?" demanded Nero annoyedly as his Devil Trigger faded.

Thor ignored the Question and instead walked up to the Hulk who stood to the side, with his trademark scowl.

"You have won the day, friend Hulk," Thor praised, "Truly thou art a warrior to be reckoned with for few can resist the Enchantress' charms."

He held out his hand for the Hulk to shake, but the green giant merely grunted.

"Nothing's changed," He stated, "You all thought I was a savage monster. You were gonna take me down. You're no different than Ross and SHIELD. Expect they're honest about it."

He then turned and walked away from them.

"Hulk, come on," Wasp called out.

"I'm done," stated Hulk before he leaped into the sky while his former team just watched him go.

"So much for a team," stated Nero bitterly.

"Okay, so not the most promising day two," Iron Man stated as he looked to the others, "Let's head back to the mansion I think we can all agree that we need some rest."

The others nodded in agreement, however, Nero just watched Hulk leave. He frowned as the giant faded into the distance. The hunter just sighed and turned away while shoving his hands into his pockets. He figured Hulk would be back, he just needed some time to himself. He was sure of this because this is exactly what he would do.

 _'Just got to wait and see,'_ thought Nero as he followed the others, however, he was suddenly stopped by Wasp, placing her hand on the center of his chest.

The hunter looked at Janet confused, "What?"

"Nero," she said extremely calmly, but the way she said his name made him feel very uneasy, "Want to explain how you survived being impaled?"

Nero glanced up and saw that the others were still heading to the mansion before looking back at Wasp. He could see she was not going to let this go no matter what he said or did. So, the hunter could only let out a tired sigh.

"I'll explain later," he finally said, earning a nod from Wasp, however, he grasped her shoulder and leaned over to her ear, "but just you. This is something that's personal."

Letting go of the brunette heroine, he started for the group leaving Janet behind for a moment. The heroine looked at Nero with confusion and some worry. What was so secret that he didn't want to talk about it?

 _ **To Be Continued...**_


End file.
